GRAP: Volume One
by RoyalPsycho
Summary: It has been 30 years since Ruby Rose was accepted into Beacon Academy, 22 since the forces of Remnant finally triumphed over the witch Salem and 8 years since Beacon reopened to students. The world is still recovering from the worst war in history but already a new threat is looming. This is the story of a new generation and a new team who will oppose the darkness. Post Volume 3 AU
1. Chapter One: The First Day

**Chapter One: The First Day:**

 **September 4** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

It was a pleasant day in Vale. The early autumn still clung to summer, bringing warm breezes and slightly overcast skies to the citizens of the fortified kingdom. Despite some rain that had been heavier than usual the Agricultural Districts were producing more than usual and the surplus had staved off most people's fears of rationing. Businesses were booming, tradesmen flocked to the newly secured nation and people everywhere celebrated a return to peace and normalcy that only those over the age of forty really remembered.

Walking through the streets of the Residential District, a large duffel bag on her back, was a young woman. She was Greta Hexenpfahl, Huntress in training and – soon to be – student of Beacon Academy.

She was a girl of medium height with pale white skin, long midnight black hair that reached down past her shoulders and a slightly hooked nose. A large dark dress covered most of her body but the hem of the dress, which reached down to her shins, revealed the cuffs of the dark-green trousers she wore underneath and the collar of her lighter green t-shirt poked up from the slightly lower neck-line of the dress.

Greta walked with a slight skip in her step, a large, excited smile plastered on her face as she weaved her through the crowds. She had been working herself up for the final trip to Beacon, the journey that would ensure her place in the prestigious establishment. Despite her reservation to such a drastic change in her life this was something she had chosen and after so much hard work she had made it in. She had clarity for the next four years of her life. From there, so many options would open to her.

"This is Dundarren's Street so the airport should be just around the next intersection," Greta reminded herself, running over the directions she had been given to the Vale airport.

She continued up the street, dodging the other pedestrians as her pace quickened. It didn't take her long to find herself at a massive roundabout with streets branching off of the massive circular space. At the centre was a massive dais and sat atop it was the Reclaimer Memorial. A large statue reached into the sky, depicting two heroes - a man armed with a sword and shield and a woman carrying a scythe larger than she was - rearing over a pack of carven Beowolves. It had been erected to honour the heroes who had fought in the Witch War almost twenty three years ago.

"If I'm here," Greta thought to herself, scanning the area, "then my turn-off iiiissssssss?..." She spent several seconds peering down the nearby streets, searching for any sign of the airport.

The sight of a civilian airship taking off from behind several buildings to her left and the sight of the highest tiers of the airport told her where she needed to go. Beaming with excitement again she set off in the direction of the departing aircraft. Her joy then suddenly turned to panic. Worried, she pulled back the cuff on her left-hand sleeve and checked her watch. The old-fashioned device read ten-eleven, she was still early, but not by much.

Not wanting to be late, she picked up her pace, lifted her duffel-bag higher up her shoulders and continued down the road that led to the airport. It didn't take her long to find the building. The Vale National Airport was a massive building. As a lifeline to other kingdoms, a major source of transportation through the kingdom and the safest means of moving between the city and the outlying colonies, air-travel was unbelievably vital to the Valesian people. This had led to the development of a massive, state-of-the-art airport to accommodate the immense amount of air-traffic.

Greta tried not to gape as she looked at the massive cylindrical building. It was built out of over a dozen enormous discs that reached high into the sky. Each disc had dozens of openings of different sizes, all built to serve as docking ports for the various kinds of aircraft that came in and out. Crowning the immense structure was a forest of relay towers, smaller landing pads and antennae. The almost-perfect cylinder of the structure was broken only by a long prow that cut down the centre of the building, the Valesian flag and national motto painted on it.

Greta rushed off in the direction of the main entrance which stood at the base of the prow. Ignoring the crowd, she made her way into the building and tried to find where she was. The information email she had been given several weeks before her enrolment had given her directions to where she would embark.

Glancing up at the huge relay screen that hung on the far wall she found the gate she needed. The Beacon flight was at Gate Fifteen on the fifth floor. Her destination now set, she joined one of the queues and waited to pass through security. She ran her luggage through the scanners, flashing her provisional student ID when the scanners caught her weapon, and then passed through the doors to the airport interior.

She found herself in a much smaller space packed full of people. Few of them were carrying luggage like her but they were all in a rush as they walked to and from the elevators. Small shops and information depots lined the walls and at the centre of a space was a massive glass pillar, the elevators visible through the transparent walls.

Her luggage strapped to her back, she reached behind her to caress the pommel of her weapon. Named Firebrand, her weapon was an extendible fire-pike that she had built in her second year at Signal and had served her well in her education. Feeling the smooth metal finish of the pommel, she felt reassured and went off to one of the elevators to the upper floors. Assuming they all went to every floor, Greta went to join one of the queues leading up to an elevator. Due to the sheer size of every platform, it didn't take as long as she feared for the queue to shrink and she boarded one of the elevators. The ride to the fifth floor was quick despite the large number of people who rode with her.

Stepping off of the elevator, she looked around the fifth floor. Unlike the interior on the ground floor the upper levels were much more spacious. Larger shops and restaurants had been built into the structure and passengers waiting for their flights were moving around. She saw several of the people that were around her age or younger were carrying weapons, giving them away as Huntsmen students.

Ignoring them for the moment, Greta instead wandered around the edge of the floor, counting the gates as she passed in search of Gate Fifteen. She quickly found the gate despite the crowds, the large number of armed, student age teenagers giving it away to her. Glancing at her watch she saw it read ten-forty one. She wouldn't have to wait that long.

'Alright,' she mumbled to herself as she eyed the other students, trying to not to make it too obvious that she was staring at them. 'This is it. Today's the day where you join in. Today's the day where you make friends.'

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the gate and took a seat in one of the empty chairs, trying to not pick a seat that was too far from the student groups that were chatting nearby. She sat in place, her duffel-bag by her feet and tried to think of a way of inserting herself into one of the groups.

"How does this work again?" Greta thought as she floundered internally. "What am I supposed to do?"

It had taken her only a few seconds of patient introspection to realise she had no idea what she was doing. The other students looked like they were all happy doing their own things and Greta couldn't think of any way to join in without looking awkward.

As Greta worried her way through her personal dilemma, an incredibly tall girl dressed in an elaborate white dress rimmed by a silvery hem of stylised snowflakes rushed past. The girl had silvery white hair, a derisive scowl on her face, a silver circlet with an ice blue jewel in the centre on her head and a pair of sheathed blades strapped to her right hip. As she stormed past, she dragged a white, expensive wheeled suitcase with her and knocked Greta's shin with the side of the case.

'Ah!' Greta started, jolted from her thoughts just in time to see the offending suitcase and the girl carrying it move past her.

'Excuse me,' Greta snapped, irritation overriding her concerns with talking to new people. 'You just hit me.'

The statuesque girl turned around in an instant and fixed Greta with her glare. Greta shrank back a little from the girl but still tried to remain resolute.

'Excuse you,' the other girl returned derisively with a sneer. 'This is a public space and you were the one sticking your legs out like that. Why don't _you_ try to be more considerate of me and others here?' Not waiting for an answer, the other girl then span on her heel and continued on, several other seated students who had heard her tucking their legs in as she passed.

Greta was stunned by her and unable to answer back, she merely watched as the girl walked off to another part of the waiting area. Disheartened by the encounter, she settled back into her seat and began to rummage through her duffel-bag for her personal scroll. Trying to meet people wasn't working out so she was going to kill time some other way.

'I've had trouble with 'er type before,' a rather loud and accented voice suddenly said, catching her attention. A loud grunt, a shuffling sound and the feeling of something slightly brushing her side heralded the arrival of a very stout boy. 'Try not to let 'em get to ya.'

Greta turned to get a closer look at her new neighbour. He was rather large with a round face and a natural smile that was only slightly lopsided. He had red-hair he hid under a cloth scarf he had tied around it and wore a thick, dusty leather overcoat that covered a striped t-shirt. His trousers were dark brown and slightly stained from wear, everything below the knee covered by tough leather boots. Everything the boy wore was worn and slightly tattered but the large cutlass capped by a clockwork style mecha-shift handle and guard was pristine.

'Lach,' the boy said, extending his right hand. 'Lach Boucanier.'

'Oh...uh. Hi,' Greta said, taking his hand and shaking it. 'I'm Greta. Greta Hexenpfahl.'

'Pleasure to meetcha,' Lach replied, vigorously returning her handshake before releasing his grip. 'Don't think I've seen ya round here before,' Lach continued without missing as beat. 'Are ya new round here?'

'Well I've never been in the airport before' Greta replied with a nervous chuckle. 'This is going to be my first time flying.'

'Mine too,' Lach replied with a beaming smile. 'Never really liked the look 'a flyin. I'm more of a sailor."

'Really,' Greta asked, feeling more confident with every word.

'Oh aye,' Lach continued. 'My family's been working by the pier for years now. I've often helped my uncle out on his fishing boat.' He then leaned forward with a joking grin. 'Dangerous work too ya know. Never know what might come up in yer net.'

Greta smiled in return, humouring his sudden change in attitude. 'Is that so?' she asked.

'Well not for me,' Lach replied, calming down slightly. 'I haven't really done it that often. Mostly been at home or school. Ma and Pa wanted me to be a Huntsmen so I could get out of our part of town.'

'Your part of town?' Great asked, understanding the sentiment but wondering where he was from.

'My family lives over in Magnus,' Lach said with a hint of discomfort at the mention of the economically run-down region.

'Me too,' Greta immediately said. 'I'm from the Magnus Children's Home.'

'Really?' Lach exclaimed in surprise. 'I didn't know they kept kids for that long.'

'Not normally,' Greta replied awkwardly. 'I'm one of the special cases. I've kind of been bouncing from shelter to shelter really. All of them were in Magnus but nothing ever really stuck'

Lach looked visibly uncomfortable at the subject of the conversation. 'Well it doesn't matter ta me,' he said quickly, clapping her on the shoulder. 'It's good ta have a fellow Magnusite 'ere.'

Before either could continue a chime sounded from the speaker attached to Gate Fifteen, getting the attention of everyone nearby.

'Would all passengers for the Inter-Vale flight to Beacon please form an orderly line and present their passes,' a friendly voice said from the speaker.

'Well that's us,' Greta said with a smile, picking up her duffel-bag and preparing to get into the line that was shakily forming in the middle aisle of the waiting area.

'Ah, damn,' Lach suddenly said as shot up from his seat. 'I've left my luggage back at my last seat. I'll catch up with ya.' He then ran off back to the other end of the waiting area. Shrugging her shoulders, Greta joined the queue and began to wait.

The students quickly and efficiently filed into the airship, flashing their passes to the scanners built into the gate as they passed. Once Greta was through she walked through the wide umbilicus to the airship that would be taking her and her new comrades to Beacon. When she turned around she failed to find Lach. Figuring that he had simply been forced to take a place at the back of the queue she continued on to the ship.

The students were all shuttled onto a civilian Skywhale, a relatively large transport designed to carry passengers and cargo. Usually tasked with short trips within Vale's borders or to the nearby colonies and outposts, it was more luxurious and less practical than most other models.

Greta went over to one of the windows and took a seat on a bench that was bolted to the floor in front of the large glass pane. At the moment all she could see was the hanger of the airport but she expected to get a much better view once they took off. A part was actually feeling giddy. She had never flown before and the idea of riding through the sky on such a massive machine was exciting for her. That fact that she would finally make to Beacon on such a vehicle also helped.

She waited patiently for the departure procedures to finish, not realising she was tuning out the safety protocols. It was rather sudden when she felt the entire ship jolt from the engines starting up. The repulsors fired down and the ship began to lift, flexible mooring clamps detaching and retracting back into the hanger wall.

Greta's stomach dropped as she felt the ship take off from the ground and glide carefully out of the hanger. Her heart hammered in her chest as she saw the fins of the ship come worryingly close to other machines in the airport. It took several minutes of manoeuvring for the large ship to finally make it out of the hanger and into the open air.

Her worry vanished and was replaced by a renewed wonder and excitement as she looked out of the window and out into the sky.

The streets she had walked through were now beneath her, shrinking further and further as the airship gained altitude. Greta had been in high-rises before but she never seen the ground move away from her at such heights before. She had butterflies in her stomach that were upset a little as the ship tilted and shifted and moved her with it. The airship angled itself away from the city centre and the high-rises that characterised it and pointed east, towards Beacon Academy.

* * *

Whoever had scheduled the flight to Beacon had obviously chosen a very leisurely route. After directing itself towards the academy, the airship had then gone on a rather circuitous route that looped close to the academy several times before redirecting itself to show students views of other parts of the kingdom. At a certain point in the journey several television screens had been turned on for the passengers, usually displaying news or relevant information for the arriving students.

Lach hadn't managed to find her again but Greta wasn't concerned. She had remained enthralled by the trip and the views that she had never seen before in her life.

She had of course travelled to other parts of the city and then there were the trips overseas to Patch that she had required to take in order to attend Signal Academy. When she went to Patch, however, it had always been by boat, which was more affordable. Never before had she been able to get such a brilliant view of so much of her small world.

Now, however, the ship was finally closing in Beacon Academy. Even from a distance, the first sight of the prestigious school was awe inspiring. Separate from Vale Proper, the Beacon Campus was situated on a serene plateau to the east of the city. Perched on the edge of the plateau's cliff-side, Beacon stood like the prow of a ship over the lake at the base of the cliffs. Several waterfalls fell from the cliff-top down to the lake, one of them running right down the middle of the school's grounds to land at the sprawling dockyards at the base of the cliff. Two other wider rivers flanked the school., one of them feeding the stream in the campus' centre. Elevator pillars led from the aerial docking platforms that were perched over the cliffs, right down to the docks in the lake. Behind the school was the rest of the plateau, an almost unspoiled landscape of verdant forests and rolling mountains.

The school itself was a series of elegant towers reaching high into the sky, centred around the Beacon Tower, a single massive tower that rose above even the other high-rise structures. I was built like a bizarre combination of archaic fortification and sleek modernised skyscraper, capped by the academy's beacon, a massive green light that shone from behind plate glass windows and gave the school its name. She had read, from the information pamphlet she had received before leaving, that the Beacon served as a light for all mankind and would never be dimmed so long as the school stood.

A more cynical part of her did wonder just how much of the structure was part of the original school and how much was relatively new. Like all children, she knew that the school had been a primary battleground in the Witch War, the first part of Vale to fall and one of the last to be retaken. Much of the school had been damaged or destroyed by the battling forces of Grimm and mankind and great efforts had been made to rebuild it afterwards.

Steeling herself for the imminent arrival, she turned to pick up her bag from behind her seat and noticed the news program that was playing across from her.

'...are now celebrating their victory over the Alexandrian Insurgents,' a newsreader's voice said as the screen displayed soldiers climbing over a mound of rubble into a building whilst other soldiers shot at them and explosions went off around them. 'With the victory at Megalopolis his majesty King Philip of Mistral announced the end to the Mistrali Civil War. The conflict, begun in August last year by the king's illegitimate son, has been a dangerous source of strife for the kingdom and many express hope that the end of the war will allow the kingdom to finally deal with the Grimm swarms that have begun to congregate around their defences.'

Greta wasn't especially interested in the news but she saw many other students were, even the girl who had hit and shouted at her. Greta turned her head away before the annoying girl noticed her again.

A chime suddenly sounded and the television screens switched off. At the centre of the passenger common area, a projector switched on, forming the figure of an old man in a tweed suit. His face was drawn and wrinkled and his eyes had steely quality to them. Whatever other features he had were difficult to make out as the light-blue tint of the holographic projection made it impossible to discern them.

Greta gave her full attention to the holographic image which seemed to exude authority and presence even through the shimmering image. His eyes didn't look at any student in particular, instead scowling for a moment at where Greta assumed the camera for the video feed was placed.

The figure cleared his throat and straightened himself before opening his mouth.

'Hello and welcome to Beacon Academy,' he said, putting his left hand on his chest. 'I am Professor John Smith. You students are among the privileged few who have been accepted as potential future Huntsmen and Huntresses. Our world has recovered from a great conflict and is working towards building a new era of peace. As future Huntsmen and Huntresses it will be your duty to help humanity reach that peace and work towards making Remnant a safer and more prosperous world for all.'

Greta felt a little trepidation at what the holographic professor had just said. She knew what her future vocation would demand from her but hearing about it from an actual member of the academy's staff was still intimidating.

'All of you have shown the skill, courage and fortitude needed to enter this prestigious institution,' the professor continued. 'It is here, now, that your studies begin. Once you enter these grounds we will prepare you for the trials and trepidations that your future will bring you. We hope to help you fulfil your true potential just as we expect you to live up to it.'

The speech finished, the projector switched off and the older man disappeared. Barely a moment later the students began grabbing their possessions and moving towards the exits.

Greta shouldered her duffel-bag and followed after them. A slight jolt signalled the airship's successful docking. The moment the doors opened the other students began quickly filing out. There was still some time before the mandatory introductory seminar but it seemed most of the new attendees wanted to be punctual for their first day.

Greta, on the other hand, was completely overwhelmed by the school. At a distance Beacon had been awe inspiring but actually being on the grounds and seeing the academy close-up was breathtaking. The towers of the school now loomed over her, the light of the beacon brighter than ever. In front of her, past the docking platforms, was a beautiful avenue of carved statues. Each statue depicted what was likely a Huntsman or Huntress, holding weapons whilst also supporting the arches that connected each opposite statue.

The closest statues were of recent heroes from the Witch War. Greta recognised a few from history books and – in the case of those who were still alive – newspapers and magazines. She passed the likenesses of esteemed people like Ruby Rose, Glynda Goodwitch and Velvet Scarletina, every one of them a Valesian hero. The ones further away were ones more recognisable from stories and history books. She was able to make out a few like Ethric the Gardener, David the Uniter, Annchi the Just and one she guessed was supposed to be Peter the Great, the first King of Vale.

Her eyes on the statues, she didn't notice she hadn't been watching where she was going until she hit something.

She collided with something, chest first. The impact wasn't hard but her gasp of surprise was exaggerated by being shocked out of her prior state of fascination with the architecture. She jumped back with a start as she looked forward and realised what she had hit was a person.

'Sorry,' she said, looking down at the person she had bowled over. He was a boy, likely about her age but very small and almost delicate looking. He had a round, young-looking face, shaggy brown hair that curled slightly and piercing blue eyes that looked as surprised as she was. He was dressed in sturdy leather clothing with blue trousers and a belt covered in various thick cloth pouches and with a sheathed blade strapped to it.

'I didn't see you there,' she said apologetically, reaching down with her right hand to help him up.

'No, no. It's not a problem,' the boy replied in a good-humoured tone. 'It happens all the time. I kind of blend into the background.'

'Well it's good you're alright,' Greta continued. 'I mean Aura would have taken care of it anyway but it's still not nice to just get knocked down like that and I really should've...,' she trailed off as she realised she had begun to ramble.

The boy smiled at her. 'It's alright,' he assured her and Greta blushed. 'I'm Tom by the way,' he said, extending a hand. 'Thomas Underhill.'

'Greta Hexenpfahl.' Greta took his hand and shook it, glad he wasn't as enthusiastic as Lach had been. 'So you're a first year?'

'Yep,' Tom beamed. 'Same as you. I was a bit surprised when I got accepted but I'm here now and looking forward to what I can do here.'

'It can be a bit..,' Greta rooted around in her brain for the right word, 'overwhelming.'

'Yeah,' Tom replied. 'I mean look at this place,' he waved around at the massive campus, stopping his hand at the Beacon Tower. 'It's times like this that make you feel rather small.'

'Yeah,' Greta agreed. 'It is rather imposing. But we'll grow into it. That's why we're here isn't it.'

Tom chuckled. 'Well I don't know about that,' he said, spreading his arms and inclining his head down at his body. 'I've kind of stayed at this height for a long time now.'

Greta looked him up and down. She wasn't exactly tall but the boy was nearly half a foot shorter than her and, when combined with his very youthful face, he actually looked a lot younger than most Beacon students should.

'Uh, I don't mean to be rude but how old are you?' Greta asked hesitantly. Once she had finished she bit her lip. Thankfully Tom didn't appear upset by her question and just laughed again.

'I'm seventeen honest,' he said between chortles.

'Right,' Greta said before she could follow up on her question. 'Sorry, it's just you do look rather young.'

'Runs in the family,' Tom said, waving off her concerns. 'I think it's mostly from my father's side because my uncle's not that big either and he's quite old.'

'Cool,' Greta said, not sure how to continue the conversation. Her eyes roamed around the area as she struggled to find a new topic and then suddenly noticed most of the other students had already walked past them.

'Wait,' Greta quickly said as she realised what was happening. 'What time is i...,'

'There ya are,' a loud and familiar voice shouted out exuberantly. Greta felt Lach before she saw him as he clapped her heavily on the shoulder, forcing her forward with the blow and almost pushing her over. 'What are ya standin' round here for. The speech's gonna start soon.'

'It is?' Tom shouted in surprise.

'Whoa, where did you come from?' Lach shouted in response, jumping back slightly from surprise.

'He's always been here,' Greta said.

'Oh,' Lach responded dumbly in embarrassment. 'Sorry there. Didn't notice ya it seems.'

'Happens all the time,' Tom waved the other boy's concerns off, pulling up a suitcase that had laid beside him throughout the conversation. 'Anyway. I think we need to get moving if we want to get seats for this speech.'

Together, the three students ran to the auditorium, pausing a moment to figure out the directions that had been handed to them with their acceptance email. They made into the auditorium with several other stragglers but thankfully the seminar hadn't begun yet. The entire room was vast, the vaulted ceiling reaching high above the students and evoked a very modernist look that contrasted with the somewhat classical exterior of the school. The auditorium echoed with various conversations from the students who were now milling around the large room. Most had taken seats but others were still standing around or wandering in search of particular places or people.

'So do either of you see anywhere where we can sit together?' Greta asked as she scanned the room for a free space.

'I've got nothing,' Tom reported, standing on his toes to try to see over the other people in the room.

'I think I found one,' Lach suddenly shouted. 'But we're gonna have ta move quick if we wanna grab it.'

The larger boy immediately set off in the direction of the space he had spotted and Greta and Tom trailed after him. They did find a space in the rows of seats where several chairs had been left empty. Rushing forward, they quickly sat in three of them, Greta stuck in between the two other boys.

'So?' she began hesitantly, looking back and forth between Tom on her left and Lach on her right. 'How long do you suppose this seminar's going to last?'

'The schedule said it starts at one,' Tom piped up, checking the clock on his scroll. 'It's about five minutes to but it doesn't say when we finish. I hope it's not too long. These seats aren't exactly comfortable.'

'I hear ya,' Lach added, shifting slightly in an attempt to get comfortable.

The three of them chatted absently for a few more minutes until a voice came from the speaker systems above.

'Could all students please take their seats,' the familiar, sharp voice of Professor Smith said.

The room quieted down and the students that were still standing scrambled to find seats. Groups broke up as their members tried to find somewhere to sit. Greta stopped her conversations and turned to look at the stage in front of her. Her seat wasn't that far from the podium at the other end of the room and she had a decent view of everything that was going on in front of her.

Professor Smith was already standing in the centre of the stage, stepping away from the microphone he had been talking into a moment ago. In the flesh, his presence was surprisingly more solid and real despite his obvious age. His hair was grey and his face was drawn with a few sagging wrinkles on his brow and around his eyes. Despite that his eyes had a sharpness and acuity to them that made him seem a lot more intimidating than most would have thought. His tweed suit was a dusty brown but did not look worn and was accented by the white dress shirt and dark black bow tie he wore under the jacket. At his side was a small wand that he gripped in his right hand.

A moment later another man walked up on stage from the left-hand side of the room. He was considerably younger than the aged professor but was still obviously middle aged. He had dirty blonde hair that was starting to grey at the roots and a hardened face with only a few hints of wrinkles around the eyes. He wore a rather casual shirt and trousers with two separate belts, each one lopsided, on his hips. One of the belts held a sheathed sword, the man's left hand resting on the pommel. As he walked up to the microphone Greta saw he had a rather leisurely smile that contrasted with the more stern expression from Professor Smith.

'Hello students,' the man said as he leaned towards the microphone. 'I am Professor Jaune Arc and for the next four years I will be your headmaster.'

There were a few murmurs amongst the seated crowd. Most had already recognised him but his own confirmation had stirred some surprise and excitement.

'For the next four years it will be my job to oversee you,' the headmaster continued. 'It will be my job to see that you all reach your full potential and become the very best Huntsman or Huntress that you can be. However, it is also my job to warn you. To become a Huntsman, or Huntress is to willing to sacrifice many things. This school will ask things of you that you have never been expected to give and from here on life will only ask more from you. Those of you who believe that your time here will be easy are better off leaving. Those of you who are unsure whether or not you are willing to make these sacrifices are also better off leaving. It is times like these in your lives where you stand on the brink, where your decision in this moment will decide something momentous in your lives.'

He paused and seemed to scan the room. Most of the students now looked very hesitant, some of them were even unsure of what he was saying.

'However,' he continued, 'all of you are here today to learn. To prepare to become the heroes and heroines that Vale needs. Students, it my great pleasure to welcome you to Beacon.'

With that he stepped back and beamed at them. The atmosphere in the room now felt very heavy and awkward. No-one was really sure how to respond to what the Professor Arc had just said to them. Greta turned to look expectantly at Lach. The larger boy simply shrugged at her before leaning back in his seat. Tom, on the other hand, looked a lot more worried. His left hand was nervously fingering a gold ring attached to a thin chain that he had produced from inside his shirt.

'It'll be alright,' Greta whispered. 'I mean we all made it here so I'm sure we'll do okay.' Tom nodded at her, fixing an unsure smile to his face.

The sound of someone clearing their throat into the microphone caused Greta to turn her attention back to the stage. Professor Smith was once again standing front and centre, his stern expression looming down at the students.

'You will all be assigned rooms tomorrow after the Initiation Event,' the professor said authoritatively. 'Until that time you will all be housed in main hall. I expect all of you to follow the rules and conduct yourselves properly during your stay here. The remainder of the afternoon is now free but I suggest you rest yourselves up for Initiation tomorrow. Thank you and have a good day.'

Both professors then walked off of the stage and out of the auditorium. Most of the students, surprised at how quickly the seminar had finished quickly agreed to get their things over to the main hall. They began filing out of the auditorium, several of them grouping back up with the people they had been chatting with before the speech.

Greta stood up from her seat, straightening out her dress and then picking up her duffel-bag and putting it back on her shoulder. 'I'm going to grab a spot in the hall,' she said to Lach and Tom.

'I think I'll do the same,' Lach replied with a grin.

'Don't you have to go and collect the rest of your bags?' Tom asked with mild confusion.

'No,' Greta responded. 'I've got all my stuff.' She hefted her bag slightly to indicate it and then let it drop back down on her back.

'Same 'ere,' Lach added, indicating the two large shoulder bags he was carrying as well as a duffel-bag he was cradling in the crook of his right arm.

'Oh,' Tom said, flushing slightly. 'Well I, um, have a couple of bags that they probably offloaded from the ship. I'll find you two after I've got them.'

'I'll give you a hand,' Lach immediately offered, walking over to Tom and standing beside him. 'Wanna give us a hand Greta?'

'I, um, well,' Greta fumbled. She was beginning to feel exhausted after taking in so much. 'I'm kinda feeling tired now and I, um...,'

No, no, I get it,' Lach said waving her off. Greta noticed that he was frowning a little. 'We'll catch up with ya. Go get some rest.'

'Um, thanks,' Greta replied with an awkward blush. 'Sorry.'

'No problem,' Lach said in response, already turning back to the main doors and indicating towards Thomas. 'Come on Tom. Let's get yer stuff.'

The two of them walked out of the auditorium, leaving Greta alone.

"Was that a good idea?" Greta thought. "I mean he looked a little upset. Should I go with them?" She made to follow them but stopped herself. "No," she thought. "That'll just make it awkward. I'll apologise when they get back. Maybe I'll claim a spot for them as well. Yeah, that'll work."

Her mind made up she walked out of the door and took a right turn, walking away from the docks and in the direction of a large building attached to the Beacon Tower.

Walking through the doors, she came into a large corridor that stretched on towards a set of double-doors at the other end. Smaller doors branched off from the hallway, likely leading to other rooms. The hallway had a much more classical aesthetic than the auditorium that matched the school more in Greta's eyes. Students walked part of her, many of them talking to other people as they wandered into the building. Fixing a smile to her face, Greta walked confidently down the corridor and past the double-doors into the main hall.

The hall continued the classical look that the rest of the building had. It was massive, easily accommodating the large number of students who had gathered in and begun laying their possession out. She saw that several were already lying or sitting on futons that had been laid out in neat rows in preparation for them. Another set of double-doors was on the other side of the room with signs on the wall beyond indicating toilets and shower-rooms.

Greta weaved her way through the clusters of students, taking care not to step on anyone or anything until she found three empty futons with no-one sitting on them and no luggage set near them either. Smiling she went over and sat down on the middle futon and then placed her duffel-bag on another. She wondered for a moment on how she would claim the other one beside her until she had an idea. She slipped Firebrand out of her duffel-bag and set that on the other futon beside her. Satisfied with what she had done she settled down and waited for Lach and Tom to return.

To pass the time, she looked around at the other students around her. Every student seemed to be unique, from their clothing to their luggage. There were also an assortment of faunus which set her on edge. The faunus children at the children's home had usually been the trouble cases, coming from the most difficult situations and acting out the most. Violent faunus had been much more dangerous than humans and those faunus orphans who lashed out usually hurt a lot of people.

Calming down, she looked at Firebrand and felt reassured. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She could look after herself. She could fight back now.

Scanning the room again, she saw some groups had already begun to form. There were students with small mountains of luggage who had already joined together in one corner of the room, their large numbers of bags and boxes almost building a wall around them. Many faunus had gathered in their own cliques, drawing snide remarks and suspicious whispers from other students. Most however seemed to be hanging around people that were probably already their friends. The room echoed to chatter and the occasional bursts of laughter.

Feeling more relaxed, she lay back and decided to rest a little. She rolled her head to one side to keep an eye on the entrance and waited.

She brightened up when Lach and Tom entered the room. Lach still had the three bags she had seen him pick up in the auditorium but Tom was now carrying another large, wheeled suitcase along with the other one she had first seen him with. Lach also had another larger suitcase in his free hand. The two of them were chatting with each other.

'Guys!' Greta shouted over the crowd, standing up and waving at them. 'Over here.'

The two of them heard her and changed direction, walking over to her spot.

'I saved a spot for you,' she said, moving her duffel-bag and weapon off of the other futons. 'Sorry about leaving you both back there.'

'It's no problem,' Tom replied as he placed his suitcase on one of the futons. 'Thanks for saving a spot though. This place is really filling up.'

Lach walked over and deposited the rest of Tom's luggage. 'Ya think you've brought enough stuff?' he asked Tom with a chuckle as he dropped his bags on the other futon.

'Sorry,' Tom said. 'I had my uncle to help me get it all to the airship. He told me I should prepare for anything and I think I overdid it.'

'Well at least we won't have to worrying about forgetting anything,' Greta suddenly joined in with a grin. 'I'm pretty sure you'll have spares we could borrow.'

'I don't know about that,' Tom shot back with a smirk. 'I'm pretty sure none of my stuff would fit you.'

'He's got us there,' Lach agreed with a chuckle.

'Don't say that about him,' Greta said. 'That's mean.'

'I honestly don't mind,' Tom said, holding up his hands to reassure her. 'I got over my height a long time ago.'

'Well if you say so,' Greta replied with some hesitance.

'So does anyone know about what's happening for dinner?' Lach suddenly asked. 'Cause I didn't bring my own food.'

'The schedule says the school cafeteria will be opening at about five,' Tom answered, opening his scroll and bringing up the window he had saved the email on. 'There's nothing on the menu though so we can't plan dinner.' He then laid back with a sigh and put his hands together, raising them above his head. 'Please, please gods above us let Beacon's cafeteria food be halfway decent.'

'Oh come on,' Greta said, 'It's not going to be that bad. Anyway, since dinner's sorted out what does it matter?'

'I guess you've got a point,' Tom conceded.

The three of them quickly began chatting amongst one another as the afternoon passed them by. More students entered the hall, grabbing their own spots, dropping their luggage off and forming their own groups. A chime eventually went off over the speakers announcing the opening of the cafeteria, leading to the students leaving the room and coming back to it. Overall, the afternoon was very relaxed, all in preparation for tomorrow.

* * *

Greta noticed that the atmosphere in the main hall had changed over the course of the afternoon. Dinner had been nice, especially since the food, whilst not meeting Tom's standards, was still very good. Her new friends had chatted about their homes, what their time in Signal had been like for them and their families.

After dinner was over they had mostly decided to get ready for the night. They had all gone to shower and get changed, stopping off at the hall to grab bags with toiletries and pyjamas. Greta had decided to keep her shower short, washing her hair and giving herself a quick wipe down to get rid of sweat. She had then changed into her dark green nightie, putting a change of underwear on underneath and slipping into a pair of black slippers. Grabbing her bag again, she had left the showers, re-entered the main hall and found that the boys had still managed to finish before her.

Tom was in a pair of matching striped pyjamas and simple blue slippers whilst Lach had simply put on a t-shirt and some thin shorts.

'There ya are,' Lach said in greeting as Greta walked over to their spot. 'Glad to see ya decided to join us again.'

'You try looking after hair like this,' Greta shot back, flicking a few strands into the larger boys face and tickling his nose. Despite it only being a day she had felt a lot more confident since meeting them and was willing to take a few more risks.

Lach simply tutted at her and then laid back, getting out of reach of her hair. Chuckling Greta looked around the room. Most other students had also laid down, ready to go to sleep but there were a few still messing around, several of the boys had decided to forgo shirts and were fooling around, often for the attention of the girls in the room. Greta blushed as one of them began stretching across from her. She did her best not look at him as he began to flex.

'Enjoyin' the view are we?' Lach suddenly said with a chuckle. Greta squeaked in surprise and indignation and rounded on him with a glare.

'Just what are you trying to say about me?' she snapped at him.

'Whoa, whoa, I didn't mean anything,' Lach responded with a chuckle, putting his hand defensively in front of him. 'Just a joke. Besides,' he then pointed his finger past her, 'it's not like you're the only one.'

Greta followed his finger to see several of the girls were still following the antics of the boys. Some of them had restrained smirks and a few rolled their eyes but it was obvious they weren't going to stop watching any time soon. A few of the more honest ones were openly leering, encouraging the boys who noticed to exaggerate their movements.

'Seems the boys aren't the only ones showing off either,' Lach continued, pointing out a few girls who were exaggeratedly lounging, a few running fingers over their bodies as they pretended to reach for something from their luggage. A few other girls who had gotten up for whatever reason had also decided to strut as they walked back to their futons, gaining numerous looks from the boys they passed.

'Great,' Greta sighed. 'You'd think these people realise some of us are trying to get to sleep.'

'Just try not ta think about what might be going on if we were all asleep,' Lach then added with another chuckle.

Greta choked in disgust and embarrassment, blushed heavily and edged away from the boy. 'You're disgusting,' she snapped at him.

'Oh come one. It's just a joke,' Lach said to her.

Greta huffed and rolled away from him. Shutting her eyes, she tried to ignore the noise from the students that were still awake.

'Guess I went too far,' she heard Lach whisper before rustling indicated he too was lying down to sleep.

Greta sighed to herself. Her first day was over and, all things considered, it had been very good. She had made a few friends, hopefully ones she would keep, she was in Beacon now. Her life was set for the next four years. She could take care of the rest when she got there. For now she just had to get herself settled and figure out how to get herself into a team. With any luck her friends would want to join her.


	2. Chapter Two: Initiation Part One

**Chapter Two: Initiation Part One:**

 **September 5** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

The second day of the new school year was heralded by the groans of waking freshmen. Students pulled themselves up from their futons, many of them grabbing for scrolls to tell them what time it was. A few, those lucky enough to be natural morning people, were already freshening up and grabbing bags to get to the showers.

Rapture Brostein unfortunately wasn't a morning person. As a faunus, she shared several traits with whatever animal was a part of her. She had the misfortune of being born with the features of a crocodile. It was mornings like this, where she had to get up early for something important, that she wondered if she really was warm blooded. She knew full well that her blood wasn't cold but she did entertain the idea of basking on a sun heated rock to wake her up for a moment. Blinking a few times and giving a wide yawn, she pushed herself off of her futon and threw the covers off.

Pulling herself up she gave another gaping yawn, stood up and stretched. Her back and neck popped satisfyingly as she flexed her muscles and took the opportunity to blink several more times and wake herself up. Finished, she picked her covers up and put them back on the futon, folding them a little to make the spread look somewhat tidy. She then grabbed the small bag she had put her toiletries in and another that held a change of clothes and walked off to the showers.

Entering the girl's showers, she grabbed a towel out of one of the cupboards set aside for them and walked off to one of the stalls. Already she was getting strange looks. Most girls were usually disgusted by her appearance, many of them acting unabashed about it with their sneers of derision and expressions of shock. Rapture didn't care. She was used to it by this point and so they didn't hurt her. It was the looks of fear that got to her instead.

Rapture paused as she noticed a large mirror and looked at herself. She was tall and somewhat broad, definitely more-so than the other girls around her. However, it wasn't her size that drew people's attention. It was the thick, leathery scales that covered most of her body. The large, hard plates ran down her back, torso, arms and legs, ending in human shaped hands and feet that still had some smaller, lighter scales. The same scales also framed her face, running around her short, dark hair and softer, human face. There were still noticeably human features on her body. Her hands and feet were not clawed, her face was human in shape and structure, her eyes and teeth were not reptilian and despite her rather broad stature she had noticeable breasts and mammalian hips.

Still it was all marred by the leathery armour that covered her body and gave her a dark, greenish skin hue. She envied the faunus that had to simply endure a few, small extra traits. Those who complained about suffering strange looks from humans due to having extra ears, horns or animal eyes had no idea what it was really like to stand out because of their faunus heritage. Some were even lucky enough to just have claws, retractable ones no less.

Struggling not to sigh audibly, she stalked over to one of the changing cubicles, stepped inside and locked the door. She slipped out of the pyjama t-shirt and shorts and put them in changing bag and then grabbed her toiletry bag, which was waterproof, and wrapped the towel around her body. Walking out of the cubicle, she threw her bag onto a shelf where other girls had placed their belongings. She then walked over to the shower stalls.

Thankfully one of them was empty and Rapture felt grateful for that small piece if luck. Shutting the cublicle and locking it, she then took the towel off, placed in on the stall door and turned on the shower. The rush of steadily warming water helped wash away the last vestiges of sleep from her mind. Sighing in contentment, she grabbed the shampoo she had in her bag, lathered it and rubbed it into her hair.

She wasn't particularly vain since her appearance disturbed people no matter what she did with it and so she didn't really bother to try to be anything other than practical with her looks. She had no body hair but the softer skin on the crown of her head was still vulnerable to lice and so she preferred to keep her hair and scalp clean. Also, even to her, greasy hair was unpleasant and best avoided. Running her hands through her hair as she washed it, she thought about what might await her later in the day. Today was Initiation and, supposedly, the day where they chose their partners and team placements. Rapture had dreaded this day. She had no idea how this worked but she did know that she would be stuck with whatever team she chose for the next four years of her life. The last thing she wanted, or needed, was getting stuck with bullies, racists or arseholes for four years.

Washing the product from her hair, she applied conditioner, rinsed her hair out and combed it through thoroughly. Her hair tended to, she took out body soap and began rubbing herself down. Her thick interlocked scales thankfully weren't that hard to clean but the craggy surface they formed on her body did require some attention so that she didn't miss any spaces. There were, of course, places she would never be able to reach and had to simply trust the flow of the water to clean those spaces out.

Finishing up, she grabbed her towel and rubbed herself with it in order get most of the water off, wrapped herself in it again and stepped out of the shower cubicle. Already lines were forming in the showers so Rapture grabbed her bags again, pulled another towel out of the compartment they were held in and walked back to the changing cubicles.

Wrapping the second towel around her head to help dry her hair, she walked back into one of the stalls, shut the door and began getting changed. She had prepared her combat attire the night before, taking care to make sure it was in proper working condition. She only had so many sets of the outfit and she couldn't afford to buy many replacements. Still everything she had packed was sturdy, somewhat like herself.

She dressed quickly, making sure she had put her pyjamas and other personal items in the spare bag and then left the stall. Pausing once again in the mirror, she went over her appearance to make sure everything was right.

Her Huntress attire was built around her armoured body, most of being light in weight and a slightly darker green that veered close to black to blend in with her natural colouration. She put a form fitting top over her chest and torso with a thick, sleeveless leather jacket covered in outward facing pockets layered over it. She also wore dark trousers secured by a silver belt that had a large buckle with ram's horns engraved on it. Her feet were covered by dark hiking boots that showed signs of wear and repeated repair. Last were her forearms which were wrapped in bandages and then covered by long, fingerless gloves.

She felt slightly uncomfortable without her weapon these days, having required to wear Long Claw more and more frequently as Signal's final exam period progressed. The staff at Beacon, however, had demanded she place her weapons in their custody the previous evening and she had only just received a number and combination for a personal locker that her weapon had been placed inside.

Washed and dressed, she only had to grab breakfast from the cafeteria, find her locker and prepare for Initiation. Beacon was now her home for the next four years. She was going to try her hardest to make her time here bearable at the very least.

* * *

Greta stifled a small yawn as she ate breakfast. She had been woken by the loud morning greeting of Lach Boucanier who had shook her awake, bid her an aggravatingly enthusiastic good morning and then proceeded to do the same to Tom. The disgruntled glare she had sent the larger boy's way hadn't dissuaded him from excitedly talking to her though her sleep addled mind had failed to pick up what he was saying.

She had showered, dressed herself, indulged herself in a little makeup and then met the boys back at their futons. They had then all gone to get some breakfast before the initiation.

Greta had chosen some simple toast that she had spread marmalade on top of and coffee that she had added a lot of sugar and milk to. She had also added several gingerbread men from the baked section further down the queue to her breakfast menu. Lach had gone for nearly anything with meat and grease and was enjoying a full plate of sausages, bacon, fried eggs and beans with a grilled tomato on the edge of his plate. Tom had chosen a similar menu to Lach but had been more conservative than his gluttonous friend, electing to take far more reasonable portions. He had, however, decided not to complain about the quality of the food and was instead eating it with a degree of enthusiasm.

'So do ya think Initiation'll last longer than the introduction?' Lach asked between several mouthfuls of fried eggs.

'It's supposed to last the whole day,' Tom replied. 'They still haven't given many details except that we're supposed to be at a cliff near the Emerald Forest for ten.'

'Are they going to pick our teams there?' Greta suddenly asked, joining the conversation.

'I guess,' Tom replied with a shrug. 'Again, they haven't really given us anything to work with. It looks like it's going to be a surprise.'

'Brilliant,' Greta said in annoyance, letting out a sigh. 'I thought this was a school. Why aren't they telling us what we're going to do? How are we supposed to learn anything if they won't tell us?'

'Maybe they just want to challenge us,' Tom mused. 'The headmaster did say that being a Huntsman was difficult.'

'I like the sound 'a that,' Lach said after swallowing another mouthful of food.

Greta groaned in annoyance and rubbed her face with her left hand. "Why can't things just be straightforward?' she seethed internally. "They just have to make it more complicated."

'Ya alright there?' Lach asked, slight concern in his voice.

'Yeah, I'm good,' Greta replied with a sigh. 'Just annoyed. It's too early to have to put up with this. I just wanted a nice simple day where I knew what was coming.'

'Well what I know,' Tom suddenly said with a hint of panic. 'Is that it's nine twenty one and it takes twenty minutes to get to the cliff.'

'Oh I'm not being late,' Lach declared through a spluttering mouthful of bacon. Swallowing, he threw himself back from the table and set off for the locker-room.

'Agreed,' Greta said at the same time, pulling herself to her feet and following after the sailor. Tom joined them without a comment, simply looking at the clock on his scroll and then running to catch up.

* * *

Greta was now feeling rather annoyed. Time was of the essence now but whoever had chosen lockers for them had given them ones with very high numbers. Greta had stalked to the back of the room where long rows of tall lockers were stacked, finding herself far in the back of the locker room as she looked for number three hundred and sixty one. Her friends had split off from her a minute ago, their own lockers elsewhere in the room.

Finally discovering her locker, she had furiously tapped in the combination and threw the locker door open. Inside was Firebrand. She had been forced to relinquish her weapon to several white uniformed staff members the previous evening who had then placed it in the locker like every other student's equipment. Aside from her folded fire-pike the locker was completely empty, save for the raised indent in the floor of the steel box.

Grabbing Firebrand, she slammed the door shut and then took out her scroll. It told her she still had another twenty one minutes before Initiation started and so she shut the scroll and strode out of the locker-room. As she walked she saw a familiar person storm past her.

'I can't believe it took you that long to get your weapon,' a familiar girl in white said irritably. Beside her was another boy with light brown hair who was dressed in a silvery white suit highlighted by purple and gold lining. Unlike the girl in white, who had both her swords back on her hip, he didn't seem to have any visible weapons on his person.

'I did warn you,' the boy said in an equally frustrated tone as he strode by. 'Anyway you're the one who wanted to spend all that time scouting out team members. I did tell you several times that I needed time to collect my weapons.'

'Never mind that,' the girl snapped. 'All that matters is that we get there on time. I will not be late on my first day.'

The two of them then sped up, completely ignoring Greta as they rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. Greta turned to see if Lach and Tom had gotten their weapons as well and thankfully saw the two of them rushing to catch up with her.

'We still on time?' Lach asked, nodding at Greta but quickly turning to Tom.

'Just about,' Tom answered. 'I don't think we need to keep running but we should really try to be quick.'

'Sounds good to me,' Greta said with a chuckle. 'At least we're not the only ones who're late.'

'I don't consider that a good thing,' Tom replied.

'Could be worse,' Greta shot back with a grin as they made it out of the building and into the campus grounds.

'I'd rather it not be,' Lach said with a serious tone.

'Here, here,' Tom added. Greta noticed he had taken the ring out of his shirt again and was fiddling with it with his left hand.

The three of them quickly strode across the campus and out of the actual school. Leaving the confines of school grounds, they moved onto a paved path that led into the neighbouring woods, crossing a bridge that spanned the northern river next to the school. The path then turned back east, leading to the grounds behind Beacon itself.

The Emerald Forest was a large woodland that rested atop the Beacon Plateau. Here the land was more rugged with hills, cliffs and ravines upsetting the flat table of the western portion plateau. Here was the source of the various rivers that flowed to Beacon and down into the Vale Lake and onwards to the sea. The woods were famous for the bright green hue of the trees which, whilst not necessarily different from most native species of tree, were said to shine in the light of the summer sun.

Greta didn't necessarily see the green shine that the woods were supposedly named for as she ran up to the meeting point. Dozens of freshmen were already gathered at the edge of a large cliff that overlooked the western edge of the Emerald Forest. Professors Arc and Smith were also there, organising the students into a straight line that ran along the edge of the cliff, pointing out towards the woods below. Thankfully, there was no sign that anything had actually started yet.

'Made it,' Lach said gratefully with a sigh. Stopping to take a breath, he straightened himself out again.

'Come on,' Greta sighed, also taking a deep breath. 'Let's get in this line.'

'I wonder what were supposed to do when we line up,' Tom mused from behind them. 'Do you think we're supposed to climb down from here or is there some kind of path?'

'Well since the professors are here they'll probably give us a clue,' Greta replied.

'They'd better,' Lach said with a cocky grin. 'I'm gettin' rather annoyed about not being told anything.'

'Shouldn't be much longer now then,' Tom added. 'I mean, if the professors are here then they're probably going to tell us something.'

'Yeah,' Greta responded, feeling a little more confident. 'Come on. Let's get in this line then. The sooner we're all in place the sooner they can tell us whatever we're supposed to be doing.'

Their minds made up, they walked over to the other students and took their place in the line. They found that the edge of the cliff had evenly spaced square stone slabs with the Vale symbol carved on them. They saw that the other students were all standing on these slabs and so they stepped onto one for each of them as well. Greta chose the spot closest to the line, putting herself next to the boy in white that she had seen earlier with the girl in white.

Professor Arc and Professor Smith were both waiting patiently, Professor Smith had his usual stern expression and his eyes judgementally followed the stragglers as they shuffled into place. Professor Arc gave his deputy a questioning look that likely held some significance to the two adults but meant nothing to Greta as she studied the two professors.

'Now I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here,' Professor Arc suddenly said to the assembled students, a mischievous smile on his face. 'Many of you have probably heard rumours about Initiation and the formation of your teams. Well you can all rest easy knowing that today those rumours stop. Today is the day you form your partnerships, choose your teams and ensure your place in Beacon.'

Greta was confused, partially about the way he vaguely stepped around the questions she was sure every student was asking but also because he said that Initiation assured their place in Beacon. She had thought her applying for the school and being accepted had ensured her a place. Why did he bring that up now around Initiation? Would she get kicked out if she failed?

Greta took several nervous breaths as the headmaster looked down the line of students.

'You will be sent into the Emerald Forest where you will be expected to use your own landing strategies to make it down. After that you will proceed to the northern edge of the forest where you will find a series of ruins. There are several special relics belonging to the school that have been placed in there. Retrieve one per partnership and return it here. If you don't then you will be expelled.'

'Your partnerships will be formed based upon the first free student you make eye-contact with,' Professor Smith suddenly added. 'Once you have found partners proceed to the temple to collect a relic. Also there are still Grimm infestations in these woods. Though the more dangerous breeds have largely been eradicated from the area do be cautious while you're in there.'

'Good luck everyone,' Professor Arc said jovially, his casual demeanour returning. 'Oh and happy landings.'

'What does he mean by that?' Tom asked out loud.

Greta saw the headmaster take out his scroll and press a button on it. Without even a mechanical click as warning, every stone slab on the cliff-side fired upwards, launching every student forward into the air and over the forests, several of them screaming in shock.

Flailing in panic, Greta managed to catch a glimpse of the professors and saw Professor Arc doubled over with laughter while Professor Smith chuckled to himself.

* * *

The late morning sun shone over the Emerald Forest. The woods were tranquil, the animal inhabitants undisturbed by the beasts of Grimm who instinctively avoided them. The forest was a verdant paradise, virtually untouched by the works of man with the exception of the temple ruins, the remnants of a long dead Vytali colony.

The peace was suddenly disturbed by the sound of several screaming human children as they rocketed through the air. Beacon's Initiation ceremony was taking place again and the animals, many of whom had grown used to the destructive activities of their human neighbours, ran away in preparation for the chaos that such an event often brought.

Despite being shot through the air Peter Hamlin was exalted. In fact he cackled joyously as he felt the wind rushing through his hair. This was what he had been preparing for. Granted like every other student he had virtually no idea what Initiation entailed but that didn't matter. He was used to flying through the air and the sensation of pushing against the wind was wondrous to him. He was glad he had also taken the precaution of putting on sunglasses. Whilst he had worn them in the event of the sun shining too bright they certainly did help cut wind resistance down on his eyes and he needed them if he was going to land safely.

Concentrating on the ground that was slowly hurtling towards him as the arc of his trajectory angled down he felt forward with his Aura. He activated his semblance, pinpointing a sturdy branch on one of the larger trees and released his power. For a split-second the world around him folded in on itself and there was an instantaneous flash. When the instant was over he found himself standing on the branch. Planting his feet and feeling forward with his Aura he slowed his momentum and crouched.

As his hands brushed the bark of the branch he spied another branch lower down and pushed. Using both his arms and legs he leapt down, bouncing off the other branch and heading for the ground. Tucking his his head into his chest, he landed feet first, pitched forward, rolled, killing his spare momentum and landed back on his feet again. Standing straight, he looked around and saw his surroundings were clear.

Smiling to himself for another successful manoeuvre, he brushed away the small pieces of bark on his hand and straightened his coat.

Peter was a boy of average height with light brown hair, a slightly hawkish face and the pale complexion common to many Atlesians. He wore a smart outfit, somewhat inspired by the dress-suits his family liked to make him wear but modified for combat. The tie and waist-coat had been dropped in favour of a sturdier dress-shirt and a long but dignified overcoat had been placed on top of it. All of it was specially made at admittedly substantial expense to be sturdier than it appeared. It was also coloured a platinum, silver hue, the hem of the coat lined by a band of royal purple with a band of gold thread above it. The inside of the coat was also purple but most people wouldn't be able to tell since he had placed his weapons on the inside of his coat as well.

Having dusted himself off he looked around the copse he had landed in again. There were no birds, no animals, no anything really since there was also no sign of any Grimm nearby. He heard nothing, save the sound of detonations above him, likely from students using explosive force to slow their descent.

Ignoring the students who were still in the air, Peter simply strode into the woods. He pushed aside several branches and tried to find a clearer path between the trees. The Emerald Forest was very lush and the vegetation was incredibly thick. Peter tried to find an animal trail, or a clearing, or something else that would give him a better line of sight. Ten minutes passed as Peter worked his way through the forest. He cautiously moved through the vegetation, checking to make sure that Grimm weren't hiding behind the branches and bushes he pushed aside.

He could still hear the sound of explosions but they weren't overhead now. This time they were coming from around him instead and were usually accompanied by the roars of Grimm. The fighting had begun.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief when he finally stumbled onto a deer trail and began following it. Opening his scroll, he flicked through the features until he found the digital compass. He found he was heading north east and so was the trail. Sighing to himself, he corrected his course and walked off of the trail and back into the woods.

"Please. Please gods above us. Let the trees thin soon," he thought to himself, silently imploring the gods to help.

As he prayed in his mind, he walked into a rather wide clearing. For a moment he was thankful for leaving the thick vegetation. Then he realised he wasn't alone.

Peter's eyes widened in shock as he saw two very large Ursa standing in the middle of the clearing. They were thankfully still relatively young as they only had the bone white masks that covered their faces and were lacking the armoured plating and spines of Ursa Major. The two Grimm immediately reared on their back legs the moment they saw him and roared.

Calming himself, Peter narrowed his eyes on the Ursa, flicking the sleeves of his coat back with a wave of his hands, pulled his arms back and spread his coat wide. Like the Grimm, who took the time to roar in order to intimidate their prey, Peter displayed his weapon. The inside of his coat was lined with row after row of shining golden blades. The entire inner lining was covered in these weapons. There were over a dozen thirty centimetre ornate, conical stakes, six forty centimetre long knives with thick, elongated handles that possessed triggers and four blade-less sword handles. This was Symphonic Edge, his deadly orchestra.

Grinning, Peter sent out his Aura, wrapping two of the blade-less handles, his Adagios, in his power. With a thought his semblance picked up the Adagios and teleported them to his hands. A quick motion attached them to chains on the inside of his sleeves. The thin golden chains led to small, motorised bundles that allowed him to throw his blades and be able to then reel them back and retrieve them instantly.

Gripping the Adagios tightly, he pressed a button on the hilts. A series of long metal panels folded out of the centre of the handles, elongating until they were well over a foot long. Ornate ridges folded over and over again until the entire weapon was a sharpened edge.

Now armed, he lowered his stance, spread his arms and held his blades steadily in front of him. The moment the first Ursa charged, he ducked forward, flicking his right blade out and cutting the Ursa's ankle. The beast roared in anger and pain and swiped its claws at Peter who hopped back behind the beast. Seeing the Grimm had fallen forward onto its knees, he ran forward and hopped on the beast's back. Reversing his grip on his left blade, he raised it high and drove it into the back of the Ursa's neck.

As the first Grimm pitched forward, the right-hand Adagio folded back in and was wrapped in the white glow of his semblance. The Adagio disappeared and was replaced by one of the forty centimetre knives, an Allegro. With a flick of his wrist, the blade of the knife flipped backwards, folding on top of the handle. The handle then moved forward and folded slightly, the top twisting into the familiar shape of a handgun. Pointing the Allegro at the face of the second Ursa which had charged forward to assist its companion, he fired three shots. Two of the shots ricocheted off of the Ursa's mask but the third impacted the Grimm's eye.

The first Ursa finished pitching forward, collapsing to the ground, dead and limp. Peter pulled his Adagio out of the disintegrating Ursa, refolded it and instantly replaced it with one of the stakes, a Piccolo. Attaching the Piccolo to the chains in his sleeve, he waited for the Ursa to throw its head back in pain. The moment the Ursa throw its head into the air and roared again, Peter made his move. In a single fluid motion he threw the stake, a thruster in the weapon firing it even faster than his arm ever could. The stake shot forward and embedded itself in the Ursa's throat.

The Grimm froze and stood upright, swaying slightly for several seconds. It then fell backwards and collided with the ground with a loud thud. Smirking, he retracted the Allegro and reattached it to the inside of his coat. With a flick of his wrist, the chain the Piccolo was attached to also began retracting, pulling the stake out of the Ursa's dissolving body and back to his hand. Grabbing his weapon, he used his semblance to return it to his coat again and then looked around.

He was satisfied at seeing no further Grimm. In fact the only evidence there had ever been any was the rapidly disappearing bodies of the beasts he had slain.

It was then that he noticed the figure standing and watching him on the edge of the clearing. It was a girl with black hair and dressed in a dark green dress carrying an orange and black maul in her hand. Peter was sure he had seen the girl somewhere, just before the headmaster had launched them into the forest in fact.

It was only when he looked her in the eyes and saw she was doing the same that he remembered what Professor Arc had said. This girl was now his partner.

* * *

Greta was proud to say she had only shrieked a little when Professor Arc had launched her into the sky without a word of warning. After a few seconds of waving every one of her limbs in shock, she had quickly righted herself again and calmed down.

After several more seconds of flight, the forest whipping past beneath her, she realised she was starting to angle down towards the ground again. Thinking fast she pulled Firebrand off of the holster attached to the back of her dress and opened up the nozzle at the top of the maul. In its folded form, the fire-pike looked more similar to a thin club. Pointing her weapon down to the ground, she planted her feet on the wider portion of the head and pulled the trigger.

Firebrand bucked as a large fire-Dust round was detonated and fired from out of the muzzle. The kick, pushed Great back several inches, slowing her flight and giving her more time to figure out her strategy. She fired several more rounds, slowing herself all the more as the ground approached. She could see a large clearing in front of her that she was heading right towards. She grinned, glad she wouldn't have to navigate the canopy of the trees. Her smile quickly disappeared when she saw the clearing wasn't empty.

Three young Deathstalkers were standing around the gap in the trees. Thankfully they were still relatively small, barely two metres long with their tails raised and with much weaker armour. Unfortunately Greta also knew that they were also more likely to have lethal venom in their stingers unlike the adults who relied more on the crushing power of their pincers, stinger tails and sheer size.

Thinking quickly again, she pressed another button on her maul and deployed Firebrand. The haft of her maul extended forward, forcing her to twist her body out of the way of the extending pole. Where before she held a heavy club a little over a metre long she now had a thick, two and a half metre polearm. The large, heavy muzzle of the fire-pike folded out, intricate parts locking into place to form a stylised dragon's maw over the nozzle. She knew that inside her weapon the firing mechanisms were reconfiguring as well, replacing the shotgun mechanism with a new Dust processor.

As she fell to the ground she angled herself, aiming for the nearest Deathstalker. With barely a sound she impacted the first of the Grimm, landing right in the centre of its back. With the momentum of her fall and her full weight on the fire-pike, the muzzle of Firebrand immediately penetrated the Deathstalker's carapace and burst through its underside, pinning it to the ground.

The injured Grimm shrieked in pain, alerting the other two to the threat. Not wasting any time, Greta pulled the trigger again. A plume of fire shot out of Firebrand's muzzle, pushing against the ground and launching Greta back into the air like a rocket, tearing back up through the Grimm and cooking its innards as it did so.

Greta tucked her legs to her chest and flipped backwards, angling her body back to the ground and landing on her feet behind the disintegrating Deathstalker. Taking a breath she appraised her situation. There were still two more Grimm who were now completely alert to her presence and possibly angry for her intruding on their territory and killing one of their brethren. Grinning confidently, she pressed the button on Firebrand's haft again and switched back to its maul form.

She charged at the Deathstalker to her left. The Grimm immediately lunged its stinger at her but she sidestepped out of the way and hammered it with Firebrand. Knocking the stinger away from her, she then jumped into the air to avoid a swipe from the Deathstalker's pincers. Reversing Firebrand in her grip, she raised it over her head, muzzle pointing down and slammed it onto the Grimm's head. The impact cracked the Deathstalker's carapace and with an opening present, Greta pulled the trigger again. The shotgun barked, delivering burning fire-Dust and crystalline fragments directly into the Grimm's brain.

The Deathstalker fell to the ground, its legs twitching slightly as it began to dissolve. Greta then turned to see the last Deathstalker was charging at her. As she saw the stinger rush towards her, she leapt back and extended Firebrand again. Holding the fire-pike in front of her, she unleashed a sheet of flame at the Grimm, driving it back away from her. She then began raining blows on the Grimm's armour, throwing it off balance with the force of her swings and the occasional bursts of flame she let out every now and then. Keeping Firebrand extended, she made sure ot keep the Grimm as far from herself as possible.

Cackling excitedly, she then raised Firebrand over her head and span it several times, stopping when the fire-pike was now reversed in her grip. She then stabbed down with the head, impaling the Deathstalker's armoured mask and penetrating directly to its brain.

The Deathstalker squealed for a moment and then collapsed. Greta grunted as she pulled Firebrand out of the dead Grimm and retracted it once again. She felt good about her little combat session. She had just killed three Deathstalkers. Even if they were still essentially hatchlings they were one of the deadlier Grimm.

'I'm on a roll today,' she said to herself proudly. 'If I keep this up Initiation'll be a breeze.'

Satisfied with her performance she set off into the woods to find the ruins Professor Arc had mentioned.

She spent several minutes wandering through the woods after leaving the clearing, weapon out and ready to use against any Grimm she found. Thankfully her initial encounter was the only one she had as she walked through the thick vegetation. She heard the sound of explosions and roaring Grimm in the distance, telling her that her classmates had already engaged with whatever other Grimm were in the woods as well.

As the minutes ticked by she grew increasingly frustrated with her situation. The woodlands were thick and the lush vegetation grabbed at her as she pushed way through it and she had little real idea where she was going. The only real guide she had for where she going was her possible position relative to her classmates and even that was dependent on how good she was at picking up the sounds of battle.

It was then that she heard the sounds of battle once again but much closer this time. Unsure of what to do, Greta pondered her options. She could hear the roars of a beast of Grimm and the sounds of blades hitting flesh. Holding Firebrand at the ready, she ran through the woods to where the sounds of battle were coming from. As she approached, gunshots sounded as well and she heard the thud of bodies hitting the ground.

She quickly found herself in a clearing. There were obvious signs of a battle as the bodies of two Grimm were disintegrating on the ground. Standing between them was a familiar boy. He was dressed in a silver outfit and had light brown hair. In his left hand was a short conical stake attached to a chain that he was pulling into his sleeve. Then there was a flash and the stake was gone.

The boy then turned his head, looking around the clearing and then noticing her. He looked over her, running his eyes up and down until he looked her in the eyes. She saw him frown momentarily but it was quickly replaced by a smile.

'Hello miss,' he said, walking up to her casually.

'Hello,' Greta said with trepidation. 'Nice to meet you. I'm Greta.'

'Pleasure,' he said as he approached. 'I'm Peter. Peter Hamlin.' He then reached his hand out. Greta hesitated for a moment and then took his hand and shook.

'I guess we're partners now,' Greta finally said, trying to break the tension as she let go of his hand.

'Looks like it,' Peter replied. 'I don't think we should stay here,' he suddenly said. 'I don't know anything about a time limit but I think we should get this over with as soon as possible.'

'Right,' Greta said, still a little unsure of what to make of her new partner.

Peter turned on his heel and immediately walked out of the clearing. Greta followed after him, taking his lead as he seemed to know where he was going. The two of them began to walk through the woods again, neither of them making a sound except for the occasional annoyed muttering from Peter whenever he had to push aside a particularly stubborn branch.

While she didn't know how her new partner felt, Greta was increasingly becoming bored of just wandering through the woods aimlessly. She took a look at Peter every now and then, seeing that, unlike her, he didn't have his weapon out and ready to use but was instead looking at his scroll as he walked.

'So,' Greta suddenly said, 'Why did you come to Beacon?'

Peter turned to her with a somewhat questioning look but he didn't appear annoyed either. 'Mostly to get away from home,' he replied after a pause. 'I wanted a chance to.' he seemed to search for what he wanted to say, 'make something of myself. On my own terms. You know what I mean?'

'Yeah,' Greta responded, feeling a little more comfortable. 'I get it.' she paused again for a moment. 'So where are you from?'

'Atlas,' Peter replied without hesitance. 'I'm from an island off the east of Mantle called Avalon. My family own a fair bit of the land on the island.'

'So why come to Beacon?' Greta asked as she digested what Peter had told her. 'Why not go to Atlas?'

'I felt like I would get better prospects in Vale,' Peter replied flippantly. 'Then there were all those messages back at home about "Doing Our Part for our Friends," you know, that kind of stuff.'

'Cool,' Greta said simply.

'How about you?' Peter said, walking back to stand beside her but still keeping his scroll out.

'I guess I just wanted to be a Huntress,' Greta replied, taken aback by the question. She had never really thought about why she chose to be a Huntress out of all of the options she did have.

'You guess?' Peter asked incredulously.

'It seemed like the best option to me,' she continued. 'I wanted to be one and I was good enough to get through Signal.' Feeling uncomfortable again she looked ahead and tried to find a new subject to talk about. 'Do you know where you're going?'

'Well I'm taking us north,' he replied.

'How can you tell?' she said. 'We've been walking through these woods for a while now.'

'Our scrolls have a compass,' he answered, lifting his scroll and showing the holographic image of a compass on it. 'The headmaster said the ruins were somewhere in the north so I'm taking us there.'

'Right,' Greta answered him. Then she went quiet.

Peter gave her a quick look of concern and then returned to his scroll. Together the two of them continued through the woods, slowly making their way north.

* * *

Rapture was glad she had managed to make it to the ground without any real incident. Grabbing trees as she approached the forest wasn't the smartest or easiest landing strategy but she had made it work and sustained no real damage to her Aura. The worst she got was enduring having the wind knocked out of her when her momentum was halted too suddenly on the first branch.

Now she had spent a good half hour or so wandering through the thick woods, trampling or pushing aside everything in her path. In the distance, the sounds of battle echoed, telling her that her classmates had landed as well. She supposed she would have to go and find one to partner with. It was required for her to pass this test.

She walked through the woods, following the directions of the compass option on her scroll's interface. She did angle herself in the direction where most of the sounds of combat were coming from but they were generally in a northward direction anyway. It made sense to her that if she just went in the direction the headmaster had told her the temple was she would run into someone to partner with eventually.

As she walked she heard the sound of gunfire. She straightened in alertness as she realised that the shots sounded very close. The roar of a Grimm followed shortly afterwards. It too sounded very near compared to the others she had heard in the past half hour.

With a flick of her wrists she deployed her weapon. Long Claw was a pair of heavily armoured gauntlets. As a faunus she hadn't been able to access the fancier mecha-shift components that people used to make complex combinations. Still she had managed to scrape enough together to make sure her gauntlets could be folded into a more compact form. Starting as thick steel grey bracelets wrapped around her wrists, a series of plates folded out, moving one over the other until the back of her hand and her fingers were covered in metal. She clenched her fist almost ritualistically, feeling the metal scrape against each other and rub the exposed palms of her hands.

Her weapon ready she ran forward in the direction of sounds of the nearby fight. Crashing through the vegetation, she soon found herself on a deer trail running through the woods. It was also where she found the fight.

She saw a very tall girl in black running her way. The girl had a tanned complexion and dark brown hair. She was wearing a violet blouse with a white lacy under-shirt poking out from underneath and a short black skirt. A thin, violet, shift-like half-skirt flared out behind her as well as a long cloak that was flapping behind her as she ran. What was most distinctive about her was the headdress she wore. It was a band of ebony metal with two twenty centimetre horns on either side. The horns faced backwards and curved slightly in the middle, leaving the tips pointed even lower than the base. In her hands was an ornate rifle with an elongated barrel and a sniper scope on top. The stock and trigger was also enlarged, hinting at the mecha-shift components hidden within.

Behind the girl was a pack of Beowolves, every one of the snarling in anticipation and feral hatred as they chased the girl down the trail.

Scowling and realising she had gained some distance on her pursuers, the girl span on her heel, planted her feet and raised her rifle. Lining up her shot through the scope she fired a single, powerful round. The shot raced into the lead Beowolf and impacted in its chest. The round then detonated, tearing the Grimm's chest apart and dropping it with barely a small whine on the Beowolf's part.

Enraged at their leader's death, the other lupine Grimm charged forward. Most went directly for the girl but a few of the more armoured beasts, their spines indicating their seniority, ranged around the side of the trail, likely preparing to flank the lone hunter.

The girl either didn't notice or didn't care as she lined up another shot with one of the less developed Beowolves. Firing another round and killing another Beowolf, she then picked herself up again and continued running. It was then, however, that she noticed how far the older Beowolves had gotten. One white plated monster took a swipe, causing the girl to jump back out of the way. She pressed a button on her rifle's stock and the weapon immediately began to change.

The stock straightened out, parts of it folding out and extending. The butt, opened up and folded over onto the stock and a long blade extended out. The rifle quickly transformed into a long glaive with a large, single-edged blade on the tip that the new girl immediately held out in front of her.

It was at this point, seeing the girl was surrounded and forced onto the defensive, the Rapture decided to join in. She ran forward, raising her right fist and honed in on the nearest Beowolf. The beast, distracted by the other girl, didn't notice Rapture approach. With a roar of anger Rapture brought her fist down and slammed it onto the crown of the Beowolf's head. The creature, caught unaware, fell down to the floor, head first. Not wasting a second, Rapture twisted her body and put her full weight and momentum into a left hook that slammed into the face of another Beowolf that had turned to investigate the source of the roar.

The second Grimm fell backwards, its head snapping back from the impact. Lifting her fist she gave it a right hook into the chest and a left uppercut when the Grimm's head fell forward again. She kept hammering the Beowulf with her punches until one final punch to the Grimm's crumbling mask broke through its skull and pulped its head.

Turning back she saw that the other girl had managed to spear another Beowolf but was struggling to keep so many opponents at bay, spinning her glaive end over end to ward them off and occasionally firing from the butt of her weapon which still seemed to serve as a rifle.

A low growl indicated that the first Grimm that Rapture had hit wasn't dead. It was pulling itself out of the hole in the floor which had formed after Rapture had shoved its head into the ground. Seeing the beast coming for her again, Rapture flicked her wrist again and Long Claw shifted. Panels between the fingers of her gauntlets opened up and three twenty centimetre long blades folded out. Taking a guarded pose, she waited for the Beowolf to get close and then sprang forward. Her right hand claw sank into the arm of the lunging Beowolf and pulled it aside whilst her left hand twisted beneath the Beowulf's jaws and then thrust up into the beast's head.

The Beowolf stopped dead in its tracks and went still. Sneering, Rapture withdrew her claws and the Grimm toppled to the ground, dead.

Quickly turning around, she saw the other girl had managed to fend off and slowly kill her attackers. There was only one Beowolf left and it was trying to find an opening. The other girl kept feinting with her glaive and then, in one move, brought it up over her head. The move prompted the Beowolf to lunge at the girl, only for her to immediately bring the butt of the glaive down on the Beowolf's head. The girl then pulled the trigger and sent a high impact Dust round into the Grimm's skull.

Seeing the other Grimm were dead, the girl rested her glaive on the ground, let out a breath she had been holding and then leant on her weapon for a moment. Her moment of recuperation over, she then straightened out and immediately began checking herself. She straightened her skirt and brushed aside a few stray hairs that had escaped the restraints of the horned headdress she wore. Her preening done, it was then that she finally noticed Rapture.

The girl in black raised her head, looked Rapture in the eye and then frowned. Rapture felt annoyed when she saw the girl look over the rest of her and deepen her frown.

'You're it aren't you?' the girl finally said in a self-important tone.

Rapture took a calming breath, quashing the annoyance that was bubbling underneath her.

'It looks like it doesn't it,' she finally replied in a neutral tone. She walked up to the girl and was surprised that her new partner was only a little bit shorter than her. The girl looked her straight in the eye, a raised eyebrow the only thing breaking through the cold expression on her face.

'I'm Rapture,' she finally said, breaking the silence that had ensued between them.

The other girl still stared at her and then finally let out another breath. 'Aurora Basilikos,' she finally said.

Rapture's eyes widened when she heard the name.

'You mean the construction guys?' she finally asked, a hint of curiosity and surprise in her voice.

'Yes,' Aurora replied in a flat tone. 'My family are quite involved in real estate and construction.'

Rapture was honestly impressed to meet the girl. She wasn't up to speed with everything to do with the world of construction but she knew the Basilikos Family were responsible for building most of the district she grew up in. the faunus ghetto she had called home hadn't been nice but when compared to other faunus majority areas her home had been almost luxurious. She wasn't a fan of the rich but many of her neighbours had said that the Basilikos, at the very least, believed in doing a good job, even when it came to building what were supposed to be cheap homes for faunus.

Unfortunately this girl in front of her hadn't made a good impression. Rapture prayed in her head over and over that things weren't going to be as bad as she thought they were going to be.

'We haven't got all day now,' Aurora suddenly said, walking straight past Rapture without looking at her. 'I was heading due north before the Beowolves appeared and set me back.'

Once again, Rapture took a calming breath. With a final flick of the wrist, she retracted Long Claw, returning it to its steel bracelet form and set off after Aurora. Following the other girl's directions on her scroll, they headed back into the woods and went directly north to the other end of the forest.


	3. Chapter Three: Initiation Part Two

**Chapter Three: Initiation Part Two:**

 **September 5** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

If Lach were made to describe his experience in the Emerald Forest in a single word it would probably be "alright." Getting launched into the air had been fun, even if he wasn't the biggest fan of flying, but after he finally landed it had just been a lot of wandering through the woods. He could hear the distant sounds of battle as his classmates ran into trouble but he had yet to encounter any Grimm which was a mercy.

Whilst he knew it was imperative he get a partner quickly he didn't want to rush into it. It was important he take great care in deciding who he would spend the next four years working with.

"It'd be best if I got someone I know already," he thought to himself. "I only know two people but they looked good ta me. Greta doesn't seem like a bad lass and she has ta be a good fighter since she got in 'ere." He shoved aside more foliage as he lost himself in thought. "Tom would be alright too I guess. He's a bit short but he's an agreeable sort."

He pushed aside another bush from his path and found himself in a gap between the trees. It was then that he realised that he wasn't alone. He looked up and found he had almost walked into another student and unfortunately it was someone he recognised.

It was the girl from the airport, the one who had snapped at Greta when he first met her. He hadn't been able to get the best look at her but he did remember enough to realise that she was that girl.

The girl was tall, taller than he was in fact. She held herself tall and straight with a haughty expression on her face. She had the silvery white hair and pale Atlesian complexion that he had recognised and remembered very quickly. She was dressed in an almost impractically elegant dress that ran down to just above her knees and was rimmed by stylised snowflakes patterns on the hem. She was also wearing what appeared to be a thin silken shawl - which also had the snowflake pattern on the hem - on her shoulders and was held in place by a silver clasp on her collar. On her head was a silver circlet with an ice blue jewel embedded in the centre and at her hips were two scabbards with blades inside them.

The two stared at one another for a while, neither of them giving away any obvious signs of how they felt to the other. Then the girl frowned, raised her head a little higher as if she were trying to look down on him and turned away from Lach without another word.

"So this is how it's gonna be," he mused to himself, frowning. Gripping the handle of his cutlass, he strode off after his new partner.

* * *

Tom kept his body low as he walked through the woods. Despite his small size the thick vegetation didn't bother him. He had grown up in a farming community and his early childhood had been spent in forests like these. Everything he had learnt about moving through the woods came back to him as he manoeuvred between the foliage.

It seemed that most of the Grimm in the woods had been distracted by his classmates and so he had elected to concentrate on heading north to the temple. Still, he had remained cautious, drawing his short-sword, Lumen and inserting a dust cartridge into the chamber in the hilt. His right hand, which held the sword, kept thumbing the guard and the activation button for the dust ignition. His left hand held his uncle's ring, which he continued to rub to reassure himself.

His uncle had given him the ring just before he left, telling him it was a good luck charm. He had, of course, been very grateful to his uncle for giving him so much. Both the sword and the ring had been his and he had carried them during the Witch War.

He continued through the woods, following the directions given by his scroll. He rarely consulted the device, preferring not to draw attention to himself with the scroll's light. Moving slowly and keeping his head low, he crept through the forest. He didn't want to rely on his semblance too much. Such a dependency would exhaust him and he knew that he would need to hone his physical skills. He was in Beacon now, he needed to prove his capabilities as a Huntsman.

It was then, as he peered into a clearing in front of him, that he heard the roar of a Grimm. Breathing heavily, he thanked the gods that he was still hidden in a thick bush on the edge of the opening in the trees and waited to see what would happen. The roar told him that the Grimm was agitated and close.

Suddenly a large Ursa burst through the trees on the other side of the clearing. It was roaring in anger but it was obviously in serious pain as well. Tom could see several large gashes in its limbs and chest and its facial mask had a large crack running down it.

'Come back here!' an infuriated voice shouted after it. 'I'm going to cut your head off if its the last thing I do.'

Tom was able to see past the Ursa just enough to make out the arrival of a girl. She was obviously taller than him, though that wasn't saying much, and lavishly dressed, almost to the point of impracticality. She had red hair that she had put up in a tight bun, light skin and a round face that would have looked pleasant if it wasn't currently forced into a maniacal leer of bloodthirsty delight.

She was dressed in a long red dress with a black blouse on top and a short black cape that went down to the small of her back. The dress had a vertical slit leading up to her dark brown belt that showed she was wearing dark shorts on underneath. The other side of the skirt opposite from the slit was decorated with a large golden crown symbol. Red heart symbols were also visible on either side of her blouse as well. However, what was most distinctive about her was her weapon. She held, in both hands, a massive battle axe. The head of the weapon was nearly twice as wide as her head and he could see a rotating chain of sharp teeth running along the edge.

The Ursa turned to face her but it was clear the beast was close to expiring. It was unsteady on its feet and seemed to regard the new girl with a great degree of caution.

The new girl, on the other hand, stalked closer, hefting the axe ominously a couple of times as if to threaten the Grimm. Then, with a maniacal cackle she leapt forward and brought her chain-axe swinging round. The Ursa backed away from the spinning chain of the axe's head but wasn't quick enough. The girl grunted in anger as her weapon merely bit into the Ursa's right paw, cutting a chunk out of it but missing anything vital. The Ursa roared in pain but the girl didn't stop to relish in her small victory. Instead she reversed her swing, groaning in exertion as she brought the axe back in the other direction. This time, she reached further out, taking advantage of the Ursa's distracting pain and hit it in the neck.

The axe's head embedded itself part way into the side of the Ursa's neck and stuck. A disturbing grinding sound filled the clearing as the whirring teeth of the chain-axe cut away at flesh. Still keeping her grin on her face, the girl put more strength behind her weapon and sheared through the rest of the Ursa's neck in one blow. The Grimm's body and head fell to the ground separate from one another and the girl straightened herself and took a deep, satisfied breath, switching her weapon off.

Tom was stunned at the display. He had seen students at Signal do similar feats, often with more finesse but something about the way the girl had dismembered the Grimm unsettled him.

Suddenly, the girl crouched slightly, holding her axe at the ready and looking about the clearing.

'I know you're there,' she suddenly shouted. 'Come out where I can see you or I'll level this entire area.' She punctuated her threat by switching her chain-axe back on again.

'I'm here. I'm here,' Tom shouted hurriedly as he leapt out of his hiding place. 'Don't worry. There's no need to do anything too rash now.'

The girl rounded on him and looked him over, her axe's teeth still spinning threateningly. It was only a few seconds of inspection that both of them realised that they had looked each other in the eyes whilst doing so.

'You're my new partner?' she asked in a surprised tone.

'Looks like it,' Tom replied hesitantly, worried about what might happen if he said the wrong thing.

'Alright,' she replied, switching her chain-axe off again. 'I suppose you'll do. What's your name?'

'I'm Tom,' he replied quickly. 'Thomas Underhill at your service ma'am.' He gave a quick bow to her, hoping to lighten the mood and alleviate his own fear.

The girl chuckled at him and smiled a little more naturally. 'A pleasure I'm sure,' she said walking up to him and extending one of her hands. 'I am Elizabeth Coburg.'

'Nice to meet you,' Tom replied, taking her hand and shaking it. He saw Elizabeth frown when he took her hand but he brushed it aside quickly. He didn't want to antagonize his new partner immediately after meeting her. 'So I was heading north. I'm assuming you were doing the same Miss Coburg.'

'Yes,' she replied immediately, her voice taking a tone of somewhat pompous formality. 'I was in fact already on my way in the direction the headmaster gave us.' She then sneered. 'Our classmates have done a fantastic job riling up the Grimm in this area. I don't regret being given the opportunity to cut them down but I hate being slowed down by their incompetence.'

Tom frowned at what his partner was saying. He wanted to object to his partner talking about their classmates like that but quickly squashed the idea. She might not have been wrong. He may have avoided running into any Grimm but the constant sounds of battle told him, over and over, that plenty of others had managed to pick a fight.

'Well the sooner we find the temple the sooner we can finish this,' he said, straightening himself again, gripping Lumen but still leaving it looser in his hand than before. Waiting for Elizabeth, he angled himself north again and prepared to leave.

'That certainly sounds like a good idea,' Elizabeth replied. She shouldered her axe and also turned north again. 'Let's go then.'

Together the two walked back into the woods. Though they didn't know that they didn't have much further to go.

* * *

'So,' Greta began, trying to restart the conversation again after five minutes of, what was to her, awkward silence, 'umm, what's your weapon?'

'Hmmm?' Peter grunted, looking back towards her. 'I'm sorry. What did you say?'

'Just wondering what your weapon is,' she said.

'Oh,' he said in enthusiastic realisation. 'Well here it is,' he then walked in front of her, reached into the inside of his coat and opened it, revealing a large collection of devices attached to the inside.

Greta's eyes widened as she took in the number of weapons. They were painted gold though bands of purple striped across the guards and pommels. She could see several copies of the stake he had been holding when she first ran into him. There were also several decent sized knives and a few blade hilts that showed the seams and creases on the top of the guard that indicated they were capable of complex mecha-shift variances.

'This is Symphonic Edge,' he said with pride.

'Cool,' Greta replied with genuine awe. She then lifted Firebrand into view. 'This is mine,' she said proudly. 'I call it Firebrand. It's a custom fire-pike capable of switching between a short-range, non-pump-action shotgun and a high pressure flame-thrower. It also works as a polearm as well.'

'Wow,' Peter replied, running his eyes over the stout dark-orange and black maul. 'That's a lot of variation for one weapon.'

'Well I wanted to have all of the options,' Greta said, walking up beside him again. 'It took a lot of work and I had to borrow some money to get them all but it was worth it.'

'I guess I took the wrong approach to trying to have as many options as possible,' Peter joked with a chuckle. 'I probably could have saved a lot of money if I'd just tried to fit as much as possible into a few of my swords.'

'Yeah, you do have quite a few of those,' Greta agreed. 'Why make so many?'

'I like to switch between weapons,' Peter explained. 'A lot of my technique is based on alternating between blades and I often throw them at my opponents so I usually need spares on hand.'

'I'm more of a power fighter,' Greta said. 'Firebrand's not really the fastest weapon to wield. I'm not slow, I just need to work up my swings a lot.'

'Well I'm sure I'll get plenty of opportunities to see it in classes tomorrow,' Peter suddenly said with a smirk.

'Oh,' Greta said somewhat confusedly, unsure on what to say. She floundered for a moment before smirking in return. 'What makes you think you won't have to fight today.'

'Well I don't want to jinx things but we haven't seen or heard any Grimm in a while,' Peter replied.

'Yeah,' Greta agreed, looking around the woods. 'You've got a point.'

The two of them froze, worried they had tempted fate and looked around cautiously. Greta raised Firebrand and held it on guard whilst Peter held his hands out and narrowed his eyes, flexing his fingers in preparation. Their weapons held at the ready, they waited for several more seconds, listening for any sign of something approaching. After half a minute they then relaxed.

'Come on,' Peter said with a sign, breaking the silence. 'Let's get to that temple. It can't be much further now.'

'Yeah,' Greta responded, her attention still on the woods around them. 'I hope so. This place is getting to me.'

They continued walking, noticing that the woods were gradually thinning. Greta hoped that this was a sign that they were about to find the temple ruins they were supposed to be looking for. They had been in the woods for close to an hour now but it felt so much longer to her.

They finally found themselves leaving the woods and entering a large open space. At the end of the clearing was a series of ancient structures. Shattered pillars, broken walls and the overgrown remains of paved floors lay at the end of a grassy expanse. At the centre of the collection of structures was a shattered remains of a tower. The broken walls reached barely higher than two metres but the aged rubble around it indicated that this was once a much larger building at some point in time.

'I think we found it,' Peter said, a smile emerging on his face.

'Oh thank the gods,' Greta sighed. 'Now we've just gotta get those relics.'

'I don't see anything though,' Peter said with a frown. 'Did you hear the headmaster mention what these relics we're supposed to find look like?'

'Uh, no,' Greta replied. 'I mean they've got to be here somewhere. I guess we just look for them.'

'I guess we do,' Peter agreed. 'Might as well get down to it.'

They both crossed the wide grassy clearing and approached the remains of the temple. As they got closer to the ruins they saw just how clean they were. Despite being incredibly old, it seemed that most of the growths that should have overrun such old remains were not as evident. Greta assumed that this place must receive enough regular visitation, maybe from students undergoing missions or staff preparing Initiation, who had trampled or cleared away most of the growth.

She glanced around the ruins, occasionally seeing Peter do the same. Despite their search, as they walked into the circular structure, neither of them could find anything that looked like a collectable artefact.

'See anything yet?' Greta asked as she cast her eyes over a pile of stone bricks that were probably once a wall but were now metre high pillar of fused rubble.

'Nothing yet,' Peter replied. 'maybe it's on the other side.'

Greta continued looking around as she followed Peter around the tower. She took one look behind her out of curiosity and saw two other figures on the other side of the clearing.

'There's other people,' she said nudging Peter who turned around as well.

Greta took a closer look at the other two figures approaching and saw they were students. To her delight she realised she recognised one of them, it was Lach. Her friend was striding towards the ruins with a somewhat sour look on his face. Not noticing his poor mood, she waved at him with a smile and, thankfully, he responded, a more eased grin breaking out on his face.

'Lach.' Greta shouted at her friend excitedly. 'We're over here.'

'A friend of yours?' Peter asked as he walked up beside her.

'Kinda,' Greta answered. 'I met him yesterday but I like him. He's cool.'

'Fair enough,' Peter said nonchalantly. 'I think I know who his partner is.'

'Oh?' Greta said, realising she had completely forgotten about the other person. When she looked over at her friend's companion, her heart sank.

It was the girl in white from yesterday. She strutted forward with imperious confidence that was only marred by the frown on her face. Her expression looked about as sour as the one Lach had worn just a moment ago and her stance seemed very defensive. It was clear to even Greta that the girl was in a bad mood.

The two pairs walked up to one another and then stopped.

'Hey Lach,' Greta said with a smile. 'Fancy running into you so quickly.'

'Yeah,' Lach replied. 'It's good ta see ya Greta. I've 'ad a helluva time in this wood. Can't stand trees and my partner here's not the most talkative sort.'

The other girl shot Lach a dirty look and then looked away from him with a self-righteous snort of derision.

'Well,' Peter said, turning towards the other girl. 'It may not appear to be the best circumstances but it's a pleasure to meet you again Miss Schnee.'

'The day could have gone better,' the other girl finally spoke, looking Peter in the eye and softening her expression a little. 'How are you Peter? I see you've got a partner as well.' The Schnee girl gave Greta a judging look, her eyes running over her.

'Yes I have,' Peter replied, diplomatically ignoring the girl's attitude. 'This is my partner Greta.' He then turned to look at Greta. 'Greta this is Miss Adelheid Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. She's from Atlas as well and came here to expand on her studies.'

'My mother's decision,' Adelheid said exasperatedly, mostly to herself. 'It can't be helped though.'

'So yer name's Adelheid?' Lach said. 'It's good someone knows cause she hasn't said a word ta me since we met.'

'I never saw a need to speak with you,' Adelheid said, turning her head away from Lach. 'I didn't ask to be partnered with you and I still see no need why I should have to remain with you.'

'Well the feelin's mutual,' Lach replied, turning away from her as well.

Greta and Peter looked at one another, not liking where the situation was going. Peter nodded once as if he had figured out what to do and turned to Lach.

'I don't believe we've been introduced,' he said to Lach who turned to him. 'I'm Peter. Peter Hamlin. I'm from Atlas, like your partner. A pleasure to meet you.' He then extended his hand out to Lach.

The other boy immediately smiled and took Peter's hand in a hard grip and shook it. Greta winced in sympathy as she realised that her partner was being subjected to the same enthusiastic handshake that she had gotten yesterday.

'Pleasure to met ya too,' Lach said. 'I'm Lach Boucanier from Vale.'

'Well now that we all know each other I guess we can start looking for those relics,' Peter said with enthusiasm, clapping his hands together theatrically and smiling at everyone.

'Yeah,' Greta agreed. 'We haven't found anything on this side so we we're just about to go look around that tower.'

'Well it is part of the assignment so I suppose we can cooperate on this,' Adelheid conceded.

'I'd be happy to give ya a hand,' Lach also agreed. The two then gave each other hostile looks for agreeing.

'Well let's make a start,' Peter suggested and then he turned back to the ruins. Greta stayed behind, sidling up to Lach and began to chat with him. Adelheid on the other hand began to work forward, trying to catch up with Peter but also doing her best to not make it obvious and save face.

* * *

'Not much further now,' Aurora assured herself. She and her partner had been wandering through the woods for over an hour and the thickness of the trees had not been reduced by even an inch. What's more they had endured several other encounters with the Grimm and whilst they had ended well she wasn't happy about the distractions.

'You said that about a mile ago,' Rapture complained. The faunus girl had been rather quiet for most of the journey but had felt the need to talk more about ten minutes ago. The ensuing lack of topics for conversation had only seemed to infuriate her further.

'Yes and now we're a mile closer than we were back then.' Aurora replied.

'You think they'd have given us a map,' Rapture mused as she strode a little ahead of Aurora and smashed some more branches out of their way with her fists.

'It certainly would have helped,' Aurora agreed. After so many miles she had decided giving her partner the silent treatment wasn't worth it. The girl may have been a faunus and a particularly cantankerous one at that but she was the only company she had now and she was losing her mind in the thick woods.

'Well how much longer before we get back on track?' Rapture asked. For the past ten minutes they had been heading east to bypass a particularly dense part of the woods that Aurora had completely refused to try to force her way through.

'It shouldn't be much further now,' Aurora replied automatically. 'That copse can't be that big so when we find a more spacious route we'll head back north.'

'I didn't think you were really willing to go this far to protect your hair,' Rapture said, turning her head to glare at her.

'This has nothing to do with how I look,' Aurora lied. 'I simply don't feel like exhausting myself by trying to cut my way through those trees.'

'Oh so exhausting ourselves by walking around the woods is so much better,' Rapture shot back.

'It's not that far,' Aurora replied, her attention now on her partner.

'Oh really cause I think we'r...,' Rapture paused when she collided with something hard. She turned to glare at whatever had decided to obstruct her and found herself confronted by a large black rock.

'Oh what the hell is thi...,' she froze as she realised what she was looking at. Aurora was similarly stunned as they both stared at the prone form of a formerly hibernating Grimm.

The creature was a large wall of black flesh, taller than both girls. Stirred by Rapture's impact the beast lifted itself up on four powerful legs, stretching out to a height of three metres. It was shaped like a horse with a white mane of quills and bony armour plates on its shoulders. Covering most of its head was a thick bone white Grimm mask crowned by a single, two metre long horn. It was a Malecorn, and it had noticed them.

Both girls remained frozen as the Grimm narrowed its red eyes at them and snorted. Finally Aurora broke out of her panic induced stupor.

'Run!' she shouted and immediately turned and ran for the thicker woods. She saw Rapture catch up to her immediately and quickly outpace her. The two of them tore into the thick copse, ignoring the branches and bushes that clawed at them as they careened through the forest. Behind them came the braying roar of the Malecorn and the sound of its massive hooves thudding as it began to charge after them.

* * *

'What was that?' Tom asked as a long loud roar echoed over the woods. He gripped Lumen tightly and resisted the urge to grab for his uncle's ring again.

'Well it's obviously a Grimm,' Elizabeth stated. 'Whatever it is we'll deal with it.'

Tom nodded in compliance but kept his sword raised. The two continued on, seeing that the woods were thinning as they continued on north. They had seen a series of ruins on an elevated rise about a mile to the south-west and were heading in that direction.

Though they were still cautious they managed to make it to the clearing. Walking into the massive open space, they approached the ruins. Tom saw that they weren't the only people there. There were in fact four other heavily-armed students wandering around as if looking for something. His face lit up in delight as he recognised both Lach and Greta amongst the quartet.

'Guys,' he shouted in greeting, waving his hands. 'Over here.'

All four people raised their heads and looked his way. He saw Greta and Lach both recognise him and wave back whilst the other two gave each other looks and then turned to regard him again.

Not caring, Tom ran forward to properly greet his friends and saw Lach and Greta walk to meet him as well. He slowed down as he approached them, still smiling as his friends caught up to him.

'Hey there,' Greta said as she finished walking to him. 'How's your day been?'

'It's been alright,' Tom replied as he saw Lach extend his hand. He grabbed Lach's hand and tried not to wince as his friend once again shook it enthusiastically.

'It's good to see ya made it,' Lach said with obvious glee. 'Hope you've been havin' a better time of it then I have.'

'Oh I've been fine,' Tom assured his friends, noticing that Elizabeth had caught up with him and that the other two were walking up to them. 'I got a partner without any trouble and didn't run into any Grimm on the way here.'

He noticed his friends had turned to look at his partner who had finally walked up beside him and seemed to be looking over them as well.

'This is my partner Elizabeth Coburg,' Tom finally said.

'It's nice to met you,' Greta said, offering her hand to the other girl. 'We're Tom's friends.'

Elizabeth took the hand and seemed to clench hard as she did so, indicated by Greta's wince of discomfort. Lach then stepped forward. 'Well it's a pleasure to meet ya Elizabeth.' He offered his hand and as well and took Elizabeth's attempt to harshly grip his hand with more dignity, responding in kind to the girl.

'New faces?' a new voice called out. Tom looked to see two familiar figures in white stroll forward. They were the pair that he had seen walk out of the locker-room just before them.

'Peter,' Greta said excitedly, turning to the boy. 'This is Tom, he's a friend of mine. This is his partner Elizabeth.'

'A pleasure to meet you,' the boy said. 'My name is Peter Hamlin. This is Adelheid Schnee.' He indicated to the girl in white who seemed to regard them with a contemptuous attempt at disinterest. Peter then chuckled. 'I feel like we've been doing a lot of introductions today.'

'Yer probably right,' Lach said in agreement. 'We've certainly been runnin' into a whole lot of new faces lately.'

'Well I suppose we could use more people,' Adelheid said in a somewhat derisive tone. 'These relics seem to have been hidden somewhere and we've had no luck so far in finding them.'

'Well said,' Peter agreed with an expression of almost invisible false sincerity that Tom recognised. It was clear to him that the boy was trying to placate her.

'I suppose the sooner we finish this the sooner we can get back to the campus,' Elizabeth finally said speaking up for the first time. 'I'm surprised we all managed to run into one another like this,' she suddenly added. 'I would have thought that the relics would be more obvious or that more students would be here trying to find them.'

'She does have a point,' Greta said. 'I mean, why is it so hard for us to find them?'

'You don't suppose we're getting graded on this?' Adelheid suddenly asked with a hint of fear in her voice. Her usual dismissive attitude had been replaced by concern and uncertainty.

'Well we only started,' Lach said. 'I'm sure it won't take us too long ta find 'em.'

'Well I'd rather we find them sooner rather than later,' Peter admitted. 'We should probably get back to finding them.'

'Sounds good to me,' Tom said.

The rest of the group agreed and began to head back to the ruins together. Tom, at the advice of the others, ignored the central tower and began to roam around the collection of toppled walls. They scoured the first set of walls in front of them but found nothing.

'I really don't get why they're hidden from us,' Greta finally said to Tom and Lach after checking another ruined structure.

'Maybe they want us ta work for it,' Lach suggested. 'We haven't exactly been challenged while we're here.'

'I guess,' Greta sighed. 'This just seems really unnecessary.'

'Everyone,' Peter suddenly shouted. 'I've think I've found them.'

The entire group ran to Peter who had perched himself on top of a toppled structure with his semblance. The ruin in front of him looked like at some point it had been some kind of house or other simple four-walled building. Now, however, it was simply a series of aged and partially broken walls. Peter was standing on top of one of the walls, crouching slightly to help keep his balance.

'So they're in here?' Adelheid asked.

'I'm quite sure,' Peter replied. 'I found some rather strange objects inside that seem as likely to be the relics as anything else.'

The group walked into the structure. It was rather large, accommodating all six of them with relative ease. Not wanting to be swamped by the others, Tom moved to the front of the group alongside Peter, who had jumped down from his perch, and Adelheid who had pushed to the front to see whether or not they had found the relics.

At the other end of the building was a small semi-circular dais with an enclosing altar on top that curved into a horseshoe shape. On top of each altar were small stone tablets, each about the size of a folded scroll. Each tablet had a painted symbol on it and was spaced evenly from the other.

'They're cards,' Elizabeth said, standing on her toes to see over the people who were in front of her.

As she had said the symbols on each tablet were exactly like the images found on playing cards. There were clubs, diamonds and hearts and even two aces. Unlike real playing cards the tablets did not have numbers. There were also several missing, leaving wide spaces between the ones that remained.

'So how does this work?' Greta suddenly asked. 'Do we take one or two?'

'I think we take one for each partnership,' Tom guessed. 'I mean there aren't enough cards for every single student.'

'That sounds good enough for me,' Lach said. He walked forward and picked up a red heart card before Adelheid could reach the ace. 'So now we just have to get this back to the cliff. Shouldn't be too hard.'

'Great,' Greta said, brightening up. 'We're halfway through this then.' She walked forward and picked up a black spade card and put it a pocket in her dress.

Tom was about to reach for a card when Elizabeth strode forward and immediately grabbed the other red heart card and beamed as she looked it over. Tom resisted the urge to roll his eyes and simply gave a small smile as he remembered the symbols she had emblazoned on the front of her blouse.

As they pocketed their relics and prepared to head back to the cliff-side the group noticed two more figures running towards them. One was a large faunus girl dressed in a dark outfit and covered in large leathery scales. The other was a somewhat dark skinned human girl in an even darker outfit with a horned headdress on her head and a sniper rifle on her shoulder. Both of them appeared bedraggled, their outfits were dishevelled, the human girl had several leaves in her hair and they were both short of breath, taking in gulps of air as they slowed down.

'We lost it,' Tom heard the faunus girl gasp out as she tried to get her breath back.

'I can't believe you walked _into_ a Malecorn,' the other girl snapped. 'How did you not see that in front of you?'

'How did you not see it?' the faunus shot back. 'I was looking at you. _You_ were the one with your eyes on the road.'

' _I_ was looking at the compass,' her partner replied.

Tom realised the rest of the group were just watching the pair. Feeling embarrassed, he stepped forward and called out to the girls.

'Are you two alright?' he shouted.

Both girls looked up, finally noticing the other students. They both looked rather surprised. The human girl made a shocked face and immediately began to straighten out her outfit and brush her hair into shape again. The faunus didn't show as much stress but did take some effort to brush debris off of her clothes and make herself look a little bit more presentable.

'We're fine,' the human girl shouted as the two of them began to casually walk towards the group. 'We just ran into some trouble on our way here.'

'We guessed,' Lach said loudly as he walked up beside Tom.

'Well it's not important,' the girl continued. 'We're done with it now.' She then put her hand forward. 'I am Aurora Basilikos. This is my partner Rapture.'

'Nice to meetcha,' Lach said, grabbing her hand and giving it his usual vigorous handshake. 'I'm Lach.'

'A pleasure to meet both of you,' Tom said, hoping to once again be the voice of moderate diplomacy. 'I'm Thomas Underhill.' Prompted by the two, the rest of the group made their own introductions.

'Now that we all know each other,' Adelheid suddenly cut in. 'Can we please just get back to the professors.'

'That sounds like a good idea,' Tom agreed. "I would have said it a little more diplomatically," he then thought bitterly, struggling not to glare in annoyance at the Atlesian girl.

'Fair enough,' Peter then said. 'The relics are in a room at the back of the ruins. Just look for stone tablets that look like playing cards.' Next to him, Greta displayed her black spade tablet at them. Both girls nodded in thanks and jogged over to the ruins.

'We could all head back together,' Tom suddenly suggested. 'I'm sure it'll be a lot safer if we move in a group.'

'Sounds good ta me,' Lach said with a shrug. Tom looked around and saw several of the others were nodding in agreement. 'Looks like we're all agreed then,' Lach then said, having also scanned the group to see what they thought.

A few minutes later Aurora and Rapture returned, Aurora holding a black spade tablet in her left hand.

'I see you picked the spade,' Greta said as both girls walked back to the group.

'It was the closest,' Rapture said with a shrug. The faunus girl's rather dour expression hadn't changed since she had arrived.

'Great then we can start heading back,' Tom said with relief. The rest of the group gave their own affirmations and began to set off back in the direction they had been launched. It was then that a long loud braying roar echoed over the clearing. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was close.

'Oh no,' Aurora said. Tom looked to find that her face had fell, as had Rapture's.

Trees on the other side of the clearing were pushed aside as a massive black Grimm horse forced it's way into the area. It was huge, with bone white armour covering its shoulders and a huge horn sticking out of its mask. Tom tried not to panic as he recognised what was standing before him. A Malecorn. The creature walked into the clearing, lifted its head and roared again. Tom clutched his ears and grimaced as the cacophonous braying threatened to deafen him.

'I thought you said we lost it,' Rapture shouted at Aurora.

'We did lose it,' Aurora shouted back. 'It's not my fault if it just finds us again.'

Hearing them, the Malecorn turned to look at them. Tom swore he could actually see the huge Grimm beast narrow its eyes as it looked them over. The beast then lowered its head and began to gallop towards them.

'Run!' Tom shouted. 'Hide in the ruins.' He waited a moment to see whether or not the others would listen to him. Thankfully, the group listened to him as they turned and began to head in the direction of the ruined structures. Tom turned and gave one look at the charging Grimm still bearing down on them and turned to catch up with the others.

* * *

'What the hell is a bloody Malecorn doing here?' Peter shouted to Greta as the two of them ran into the cluster of ancient toppled buildings.

'How should I know?' Greta shouted back.

Barely wasting a second, she looked around her. Peter was beside her, constantly looking back to see how close the Malecorn was. Rapture and Aurora, who both looked terrified, had also caught up to her. Tom, Lach and their partners were a little further away.

Barely a second later, part of the ruined tower began to fall away. Greta panicked slightly as the Malecorn smashed its way through the ruin, barely slowed at all by the obstruction.

'Keep going,' she shouted to the others, sprinting as quickly as she could. 'Get to the other side. We'll lose it in the trees.'

She noticed the Malecorn was thankfully confused somewhat by the buildings it had run into and had stumbled a little from the rubble that it was trying to gallop over.

The group managed to get some distance away from the Malecorn as the simple minded Grimm began to rampage in the foremost ruins. Greta leapt over a toppled wall and followed Peter as he led the group around a corner. Greta belted after her partner and rounded the corner only to suddenly run into him. She and Peter collided and both fell to the ground. Greta shook her head in disorientation as she pulled herself to her feet, seeing Peter was doing the same.

'Why did you stop?' she snapped, wincing as she heard the sound of crumbling masonry and another braying roar from the Malecorn. Turning her head, she realised that the rest of the group had also stopped, most of them raising their weapons.

'There's a Beowolf pack,' Peter replied as he stood up and pointed in the direction they had been running.

Greta looked up and saw a pack of Beowolves wandering into a clearing on the other side of the ruins. The pack was large, with Grimm of varying maturity led by an enormous Alpha. The lead Grimm towered over the others, was covered in bone white armour and had a disturbing intelligence in its red eyes.

'Shit,' Greta said as she saw the Beowolf pack realign itself in their direction. A loud crash also heralded the return of the Malecorn. The immense Grimm charged past them, ploughing through another building as it went and came to a stop in the clearing in front of them. The huge Grimm shook its head in confusion and then began to look around, searching for its prey. At the same time the Alpha Beowolf threw back its head and roared, its pack-mates rushing forward at their leader's cry.

'Scatter,' she ordered. 'Get to the trees and we can figure out a defence.'

She immediately ran to her left, sprinting to the nearest of the trees. Pressing her back to the trunk of a particularly large tree, she looked around her and saw only half the group had followed her. Peter was standing behind a tree to her right whilst Rapture and Aurora were huddling behind another to her left.

'Wait,' she said turning to Peter. 'Where are the others?'

'They ran the other way,' he explained with a shrug. 'I think I saw the Beowolves chasing them as well.'

'Really?' Greta asked incredulously. She peered around the tree and saw the Beowolf pack were on the other side of the clearing, charging at the trees opposite them. The Malecorn however, had shaken off whatever disorientation it had been suffering from and had turned to look their way. Greta swore she could see its eyes narrowing at her.

'Alright,' she said. 'We need to get the Malecorn. We can't just leave the others to deal with all of the other Grimm.'

'Yeah,' Peter agreed with a slight nod of his head. A pair of sword hilts appeared in his hands and folded out into two long blades.

She turned to see Rapture fold two thick metal gauntlets over her hands and give her a nod of confirmation. Aurora didn't reply to her but gripped her rifle and raised it slightly in preparation, a determined expression on her face.

'Right,' Greta said, mostly to confirm to herself that they were going to do something. 'Aurora,' she said turning to the taller girl. 'Can you get up in one of these trees. I want you to get its attention.'

'Um, alright,' she replied. 'It's taller than these trees though. It's not going to give me much cover.'

'That's alright,' Greta replied. 'We just need you to distract it.' She then turned to Peter. 'I want you to back her up. You know that thing you were holding when I first saw you, the stake thing.' Peter nodded. 'I want you to use that. Go for the eyes, ears, anything vulnerable.'

'Right,' Peter responded as Aurora began to clamber up the branches of the tree she had been hiding behind.

Greta then turned to Rapture. 'We're going to be going for its legs. If we can bring it down it might be easier to deal with.'

'Right,' Rapture responded, clenching her fists, her gauntlets giving off a metallic squeak.

Greta nodded and took a deep breath just as the braying roar of the Malecorn sounded once again. 'Let's go,' she then shouted and sprinted out of the tree-line.

She and Rapture ran out, getting the attention of the enormous Grimm in front of them. The Malecorn lowered its head and prepared to charge at them only for a high-impact dust round to detonate at the base of its horn, sending it reeling. Greta didn't have to guess where the shot had come from and was glad that Aurora had made her shot as they closed in on the Grimm.

Greta closed in on its right foreleg and held Firebrand high. Spinning it in her grip, she hammered the top of the muzzle down on the Grimm's leg. The moment she felt her blow impact, she pushed the trigger and fired a fire-dust round into the limb. The blast forced her back, planting her left foot she span in place, spinning Firebrand once again in her grip and using the momentum to smash her weapon into the other side of the same leg.

The Malecorn roared in pain and pulled the foreleg back, just in time for Rapture to slam her armoured fist into the other foreleg. Greta heard an audible crunch from the impact and tried not to wince as she saw Rapture slam her right fist into the Grimm's leg. She then followed up with her left fist and then alternated between the two, raining down heavy blows so quickly her fists almost seemed to blur.

Despite the damage that was being done to it, the Malecorn only grew enraged and reared back on its hindlegs, pulling the girl's targets away from them and then brought them crashing back down. The ground shook and Greta was sent flying back. She hit the ground hard, seeing Rapture land not too far away from her. She groped around and found Firebrand hadn't flown away from her. Unfortunately the Malecorn had rallied itself and was now charging towards them, snorting in rage.

Suddenly there was a short flash of light and Peter appeared in the air in front of her. He was just above the ground, his feet in a half-crouch and his right arm arced behind him. He then thrust his arm forward and up and one of his stakes, attached to a thin golden chain, shot out of his sleeve. The stake flew through the air and then hit the Grimm in one of its eyes.

The Malecorn halted and reared back in pain, roaring again. Peter pulled on the chain, the stake ripping out of the Grimm's eye-socket and causing the beast to roar in pain again. This was followed up by one of Aurora's dust rounds firing straight into the Grimm's gaping mouth. The round detonated and caused the Grimm to fall back onto all four legs and stand there, stunned and swaying almost drunkenly.

'Rapture,' Greta shouted, pulling herself to her feet. 'Again.' She then charged at the Malecorn as it tried to gather itself again. She saw Rapture charge forward beside her as well with a roar.

Raising Firebrand, she charged at the leg she had previously hit and hammered at it hard with her folded fire-pike. The pain seemed to shock the Malecorn into awareness again but it was too late to prevent Rapture hitting it in the other leg again and tear at skin and flesh, almost exposing the bone underneath. The Grimm roared and raised the injured leg, swatting at Rapture, taking her by surprise and throwing her across the clearing to the trees.

'Rapture,' Greta shouted in shock, not realising the Grimm had raised its other leg to deal with her. She turned to see a massive black hoof come hurtling down on her just as a pair of arms wrapped around her. There was then a disturbing sensation of the world folding in on her and then, with a flash of light, she was back by the trees again.

Greta gasped for air as the world righted itself again and saw Peter pull his arms away from her as he turned to look back into the clearing.

'We're clearing doing something wrong here,' he said in a sharp tone.

'No,' Greta insisted, 'One more go. We just need to get it one more time and then we can beat it.' She then glanced at the tree Aurora was in. The girl was taking shots at the Malecorn but doing little other than annoy it. 'I need to get up there. Tell Rapture to do the same. You need to get it to come towards us. When you've got it's attention, hit it in the leg Rapture injured.'

Peter gave her a sceptical look for a moment and then nodded, turning back to the clearing.

Greta nodded in assurance to him and then turned to the tree Aurora was perched in. She saw Peter had already informed Rapture of what she wanted them to do as the faunus girl was already clambering up the branches. Greta ran up to the trees, placed a boot on a lower branch and hauled herself up.

'Aurora,' she shouted to the tall girl. 'I need you to get it to come our way.'

'What?' she replied, turning to give her a disbelieving look. 'You want that thing to come right at me.'

'It's all part of the plan,' Greta said in response. 'If we get it over here we can all finish it off. Trust me.'

Aurora's face fell as she sighed, turned back to the clearing and raised her rifle again. She fired another round, hitting close to the Grimm's ruptured eye. The beast, cast its head around just in time to receive another high-impact round to the centre of the chest. It was then that the Malecorn finally realised where the shots were coming from.

The Grimm began to gallop at their position, crossing the clearing in seconds as it built up speed. Greta's heart raced as the immense Grimm approached them. It couldn't build up too much speed or the plan would never work. If it got too far and too fast it would plough into them even if Peter did manage to hobble it. Seeing such a monster up close and without the distraction of trying to kill she finally realised just how big and powerful it really was. Her pulse sent a pounding sensation in her ears as she tried not to think of what could happen if the beast hit them head on.

'Come on Peter. Come on,' she muttered to herself as the Grimm began to approach them. She clenched her fingers around Firebrand and tried to resist the urge to turn and run again as the terrifying creature began to build up momentum.

Suddenly there was a flash as Peter appeared just in front of the Malecorn. He ran up to the Grimm's injured leg, one of his deployed swords in his hand and threw it, blade-first, at the damaged limb. The blade flew forward and embedded itself in the exposed bone.

There was an excruciatingly loud cry of pain as the Malecorn felt the blade cut deep into the bone of its left foreleg. The beast stumbled and then pitched forward, just missing Peter who teleported out of the way. Greta worked herself up as she saw the Grimm fall over. Its momentum still carried the last few metres until it smashed into the base of their tree's trunk.

'Now!' Greta shouted as the tree toppled forward onto the Grimm. They all leapt, Aurora at the front, Rapture leaping a little higher immediately after her and Greta coming in last, trying hardest to gain the most height.

Almost on instinct Aurora switched her rifle to its glaive form and held the blade down as she fell feet-first on the Grimm. As she impacted the facial mask she thrust her glaive down, the blade penetrating the bone and embedding itself in the mask. A moment later she was pulling her glaive back out and back-flipping off of the Malecorn in a single graceful move.

Rapture fell down with an animalistic roar, immediately following after Aurora, her gauntlets deployed. She hammered down on the Malecorn's mask with brutal force, hitting the gouge that Aurora had left. The weakened bony plate gave way, splintering before her and leaving a hole in the protective cover of the mask. Pulling her fist out of the Grimm's mask fragments she then leapt off of the Grimm, following after her partner.

Greta hung in the air as she tried to think of some way she could get more momentum. Thinking quickly she placed Firebrand underneath her and fired off several shots, thrusting herself higher into the air with every detonation. Then she twisted in the air and pointed Firebrand up, firing off one more shot to force her body back down. As she rocketed down to the collapsed Malecorn she pressed the button that switched Firebrand back to its fire-pike form and held it beneath her, the muzzle pointing straight down.

She impacted the Malecorn in the spot that Rapture had broken, her fire-pike's muzzle gouging deep into the Grimm's skull. Satisfied at how far her weapon had gone into the Grimm she then pulled the trigger to activate the flame-thrower. A stream of ignited fire-dust flooded into the Grimm's head, flash-cooking its brain. The Grimm managed to writhe for a moment and get out a pained squeal as its brain was burnt to a blackened husk by the fiery concoction. It then went still, its brain completely destroyed and began to slowly disintegrate.

Greta jumped from the dead Malecorn and immediately jumped into the air, whooping in excitement.

'Alright!' she cheered. 'Who's awesome? Who just killed a high-tier Grimm? We did!"

'Gods above we actually did it,' Aurora said, clutching her chest as she tried to regain her breath. 'I can't believe you made me do that.'

'Guys,' Peter's voice shouted at them as he ran up to them. 'That was amazing. I'm sure we're going to get commendations for this.'

'That's what you're thinking about?' Greta said incredulously as she turned to look at her partner.

'Uh, everyone,' Rapture suddenly said, getting their attention. 'What about the others.'

'Oh god, Tom!' Greta shouted, running around the slowly dissolving body of the Malecorn. 'Lach!'

The others immediately followed after her, every one of them worried about their other companions as well.

* * *

"Well this is just bloody brilliant," Tom thought as he and his partner ran away from the Beowolf pack. The moment Greta had shouted for them to get to the trees he had bolted for the nearest patch of woodland and had been relieved to see several of the others do the same. It was only when he had made it behind one of the trees that he had seen only half of the group had followed him and Greta wasn't amongst them.

After he had tried to peek around his tree he had seen the Malecorn standing dumbly in the clearing. The Beowolves, however, had turned in their direction and were bearing down on them.

'Anyone got anything to disrupt groups?' he asked quickly, hoping someone would have something that could break up the pack.

'I do,' Lach replied.

'As do I,' Adelheid added, surprising everyone for a moment with her cooperation.

'Great,' Tom said, 'because we need to split up that pack. If it's in pieces we can isolate the Alpha.'

'Gotcha,' Lach said as he got ready to jump out and engage the enemy.

'Wait,' Tom insisted. 'You and Adelheid need to go out together. Elizabeth and I will follow after you and clean up whatever you don't catch. Then we all take on the Alpha.'

'I hear ya,' Lach replied. 'Ya ready to see some action,' he then said to Adelheid who snorted derisively.

'I can assure you I'm more than ready, she replied, drawing a long sword and a dust-wand that looked like a tip-less sword of equal length. 'It will take a lot more than this to test me.'

'Great,' Tom said. 'Alright everyone. Go! Now!'

Together all four of them charged out of the woods towards the Beowolves, Lach and Adelheid in the lead. Lach ran the fastest, his body brightening up as he charged up what Tom presumed was his semblance. As he closed in on the Grimm he drew his cutlass, which glowed brighter than any other part of him and slammed it blade-first into the ground in front of the Grimm. A great blinding light flashed out from the sword, followed by a ripple of energy that crashed against the Grimm.

The Beowolves, with the exception of the Alpha, were sent flying, every one of them scattering and hitting the ground hard. The Alpha, whilst still on its feet, was stunned by the force and clutched its head in confusion.

Adelheid followed him up immediately, a white circular glyph of snow white energy appearing on the ground in front of her. She stepped on the glyph and jumped high into the air. She held the dust wand in her right hand which was held in an arc high over head. As she angled herself down she thrust the wand down and fired a round of ice dust. A great bank of ice appeared on the ground she had hit and radiated outwards. Soon massive shards and crystals of ice were covering the Beowolves, trapping most of them. Only the Alpha, who was far stronger than the others, and the Grimm on the edge of the icebank, where it was much weaker, were able to escape.

As Adelheid landed on the ground and Lach pulled his sword out of the ground, Tom and Elizabeth ran forward.

'Come on,' Elizabeth shouted with bloodthirsty glee, starting up her chain-axe's blade. She then began a devastating dance of whirling steel as she began excitedly dismembering the Grimm that had escaped on the left-hand side of the icebank.

Tom's heart pounded in his chest as he ran forward. He drew his sword, Lumen, and pressed a button to activate the dust chamber. Several small exhausts opened up on the centre of the blade as he ignited the lightning dust in the chamber. The blade glowed an eerie blue as electricity crackled over it.

He ran up to a Beowolf that was still struggling in the ice and thrust his sword at its throat. The moment the blade impacted the Grimm's skin the energy shot out, arcing over the Beowolf's body. The Grimm howled in pain as Lumen slid into its throat whilst the lightning dust inflicted horrible burns on its flesh, boiling and rupturing one of its eyes.

Pulling his sword back out again, he turned to find another with its head and arms trapped. He immediately began to slash and stab at its back, slowly hacking away skin, muscle and bone until the Grimm stopped struggling.

'You're a little slow there ain't ya?' Lach asked good-naturedly as he jumped into Tom's field of view and slashed through a Beowolf's neck in a single savage blow.

'Just finding it hard to get a good spot to stab,' Tom replied in a surprisingly tired tone. He tried to give Lach a smile but it was obviously forced.

'Well don't feel that bad, we're doing a decent job so fa...,' Lach's voice trailed off as he looked at something behind Tom.

Tom turned and froze in fear as he saw the Beowolf Alpha right itself and loom over them. Tom tried to move but found himself stunned by his own terror as he looked up at the enormous monstrosity that towered over him even when it was several metres away. The Beowolf lifted its head and roared in anger at the presence of humans and the destruction of its pack.

A loud warcry heralded Adelheid's arrival who, after using one of her glyphs to boost herself, hammered into the Grimm, her blade aimed for its heart. Unfortunately the heavy armour of the Grimm stopped the girl's slender blade after penetrating only an inch. The Beowolf responded by swatting Adelheid with its claws, knocking her back into one of the ice crests.

The Beowolf then turned to Tom and lifted its right claw again. Tom couldn't move and did little more than shut his eyes in preparation for the impact. Then, just as the Beowolf was about to strike, it was intercepted by Elizabeth's whirring chain-axe.

'What do you think you're doing,' she screeched in indignation. 'Don't just stand there. Fight back.' with a grunt of exertion she then thrust her weapon forward, pushing the Beowolf's claw back and throwing the beast off balance. She then leapt backwards, angling herself so that her back collided with Tom and forced him away as well.

With the Beowolf disoriented, Lach charged forward and slammed his cutlass down on the Grimm's chest but failed to penetrate as well. Tom saw Adelheid had also picked herself back up and was preparing to attack again, a glyph forming behind her.

'Wait,' Tom shouted, finding his voice again as he stood up again. 'Adelheid, freeze it.'

The Schnee girl gave him a questioning look and then turned back to the Grimm. Launching herself forward with her glyph, she thrust her dust-wand forward again and fired off another round of ice-dust. The dust, confined to a smaller area, formed a giant ice crystal around the Beowolf's torso, locking its arms in place and throwing it off balance with the ice's weight.

'Lach,' Tom then shouted, seeing an opportunity. 'Knock it over. Get it on its back.'

Lach charged forward with a grin and a joyous cry as he tackled the immense Grimm. The Beowolf gave a surprised howl as it was pushed over, toppling onto its back. Unfortunately the impact had smashed the ice, freeing the Grimm.

'Elizabeth, now,' Tom shouted to his partner. 'Cut its head off.'

His partner simply grinned and then sprinted forward, her axe held high over her head. She closed in on the Beowolf as it was flailing around in confusion from its sudden, unintentional liberation.

'Off with your head,' Elizabeth shouted with a cackle as she brought her chain-axe down hard on the Grimm's neck. The weapon's teeth bit deep into the Beowolf's armour and began to gnaw through the bone. Groaning in exertion, Elizabeth applied more force and pushed her chain-axe down harder on the Grimm's neck. In barely an instant the Grimm's armour split and cracked and then the chain-axe cut through the Grimm's neck in a single fluid motion.

'We did it,' Lach said, thrusting his right fist into the air and cheering at their accomplishment.

'Yeah,' Tom agreed, feeling exhausted and wobbling on his feet. 'I can't believe we did that.'

'An Alpha Beowolf isn't an inconsiderable Grimm to slay,' Adelheid said. 'I'm sure what we've just done will look good on our record.'

'I'm just glad we got through it,' Tom said, trying to get his bearings back. 'Elizabeth are you alright,' he then said, seeking out his partner.

'I'm fine,' Elizabeth replied as she pulled her axe out of the disintegrating Beowolf and hefted it back onto her shoulder. 'I've never run into anything that was so hard for White Shear to cut through.'

'Wait,' Lach suddenly said. 'What about the others?'

'What about the Malecorn?' Adelheid then exclaimed, looking worried at the prospect of facing the Grimm and worried that they had forgotten about it.

The group ran out of the icebank and into the clearing. What they saw almost made their jaws drop. Across from them was the rapidly dissolving body of the Malecorn and running from around it was Greta and the rest of their group.

'What the hell happened over there?' Lach said as he saw Greta wave at them in relief.

* * *

Greta was over joyed to see her friends were alright. A part of her was curious about where a large pile of slowly melting ice had come from but that was overwhelmed by the relief of seeing Tom and Lach wave back at her.

She sprinted up to them and wrapped her arms around both of them, bringing the boys into a strong hug.

'Oh gods guys can you believe what we just did?' she said rapidly, almost jumping in place. 'We killed a Malecorn. An actual Malecorn. It was so cool too. I've never done anything like this before.'

'Glad to see ya enjoyed it,' Lach said teasingly. 'And all ya did was leave us all of the Beowolves.'

'Yeah,' Tom added in a teasing tone. 'When I heard you tell us to go to the trees I thought you meant as a group.'

'Uh, sorry,' Greta said, calming down and blushing slightly. 'I should have been more clear.'

'It's no problem, really,' Lach said, waving his hand dismissively. 'It worked out fine didn't it?'

'Yeah,' Greta agreed as the rest of her group caught up. She saw the girls in Tom's group had also joined them. All eight of them were together again.

'So,' Peter then said. 'Do we still all have our relics?'

A hurried checking of pockets then followed as those who had picked up relics revealed they had successfully held onto the objectives of their mission. Everyone was relieved that they had completed nearly all of the requirements for initiation.

'So,' Greta then said. 'Shall we go back to the cliffs?'

'I'd rather we did,' Peter chimed in. 'I've personally had enough of the Emerald Forest.'

There was some chuckling as the group took out their scrolls and checked the compasses, directing them south back to where the professors were waiting for them.


	4. Chapter Four: Its Official

**Chapter Four: Its Official:**

 **September 5** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

Greta had never felt more exhausted in her entire life than she did now. She was currently sitting in a chair in the main auditorium where the teams were being named and assigned leaders by Professor Arc. It seemed that whichever pairs had picked the same relic had been partnered together into a four-person team and given a leader and a team name. The displays being shown from the massive holographic projectors told who was in each team. After several hours she had figured out that the team names were also derived from the initials of the team members, often with the leader's name being the first letter.

The time it took to return to the cliff had taken longer than it took to get to the ruins. Granted part of the reason behind that had been their impromptu flight away from their starting point at the beginning of the Initiation. That aside, despite the greater walking distance, Greta had felt like it had taken less time. She chalked that up to having just won a fight against a Malecorn and proven she was worthy of being a student at Beacon Academy.

The adrenaline from the fight had finally worn out by the time she and her companions had finally clambered back up the cliff to where the professors were calmly waiting for them. Professor Arc had congratulated them for returning and then asked them to present their relics. The moment they had revealed the tablets to him he had simply tapped on his scroll and then told them to return to the auditorium for the finalisation of Initiation.

The walk back had been a strange experience. Some members of the group had struck up conversations, chattering excitedly as they slowly walked back to the school. Others, Greta included, had kept quiet, too tired to bother interacting with anyone. When they had finally got back to the auditorium they had been split up into groups of four based on the relic they had presented to several staff members who stood at the door. After that Greta had simply sat down in one of the seats presented to them and had waited for the ceremony to finish.

Leaning back in her seat and struggling to keep her drooping eyelids open, she lamented how bored she now was.

"How long is this supposed to go on for?" she thought, knowing the answer but still entertaining the complaint.

'Billy Custodi, Arthur Raconteur, Gordon Custodi, Ernie Custodi,' Professor Arc said to a quartet of boys who had been called up to the stage to receive their team placement. Three of whom were faunus with large curled ram's horns curling around the sides of their heads. 'For picking the red diamond you will all work together as Team Beige, led by Billy Custodi.'

Greta saw one of the faunus boys smirk and straighten up as the human boy next to him gave a satisfied nod to him and the other faunus boys reached over and slapped him on the back with smiles on their faces. Overhead the holographic display moved their pictures into order and proudly displayed the word BAGE, forming a version of the team's name from their initials.

'Congratulations boys,' Professor Arc said to them, smiling slightly at the display of camaraderie. 'I expect a lot from you.' This pronouncement was followed by a round of mildly disinterested applause from the entire audience.

Greta leaned back again as the boys filed off of the stage and took their seats again, smug expressions back on their faces as they leaned back and relaxed. She saw that they had already begun to whisper between one another as well though she had no idea what they could be talking about.

There was a customary pause as the professors waited for the auditorium to settle down again and then prepared to receive the next team.

'Thomas Underhill, Elizabeth Coburg, Adelheid Schnee and Lach Boucanier, please step forward,' the voice of Professor Arc said over the auditorium's sound system, calling up another group. Greta perked up as she realised her friends were now being announced as an official team.

The four of them stepped up onto the stage, Professor Smith directing who would stand where before they climbed up. Tom stood on the left, Elizabeth next to him, Adelheid next to her and Lach on the far right of their line. They also had a variety of expressions. Tom looked nervous, an uncertain expression on his face. It was possible that he had seen the pattern that was emerging amongst the teams and he had been called first, starting the team's possible name. Elizabeth and Adelheid both had looks of self-satisfaction. Greta assumed neither of them had deduced what Tom possibly had since, knowing the few things she did about them, they probably would look a little less smug. Lach was relaxed, slouching slightly but still holding his head high.

'Thomas Underhill,' Professor Arc began again, looking them all in the eye, 'Elizabeth Coburg, Adelheid Schnee, Lach Boucanier. For picking the red heart you will all work together from here on out as Team Teal, led by Thomas Underhill.'

Greta smiled and chuckled a little as she watched the new team's reactions. Tom looked shocked despite expecting what had happened. Elizabeth and Adelheid were practically apoplectic with Adelheid's mouth gaping and struggling to form words. Lach, on the other hand, looked at his friend with a proud smile and gave him a thumbs up that Tom tried to return.

'Good luck, all of you,' Professor Arc said again. 'I expect great things from you.'

The new team gave him nods that varied from hesitant to enthusiastic and then walked off the stage. Greta wanted to cheer for her friends but she saw no-one else making a move to do so and quashed her desire. She instead settled for the almost perfunctory applause that everyone in the stadium took part in with varying enthusiasm. Team TEAL, as the holographic display overhead spelt it, returned to their seats, some of them now sporting sour expressions.

Professor Arc waited a moment for the new team to settle into their seats again and then brought the microphone up again.

'Greta Hexenpfahl, Rapture Brostein, Aurora Basilikos and Peter Hamlin, please step forward,' he then said. Greta's heart stopped as she realised it was her turn. Her name had been called first too. She knew what this meant for her and the team she was being assigned to.

She hesitated for a moment as she saw the others stand up and turn towards the stage. Panicking, she shot out of her seat and followed after them. As they got to the stage they saw Professor Smith standing by the stairs that led up to the raised platform. He immediately rearranged them so that Peter went on first, followed Aurora, then Rapture and finally Greta at the end.

The four of them walked up to the professor and stood in front of him in a line like they had seen so many other quartets before them. Peter stood on the far right of the line whilst Greta was on the left and struggling not to shiver. It wouldn't be much longer now.

'Greta Hexenpfahl,' Professor Arc, began, sealing her fate. 'Rapture Brostein,' he continued, Greta's heart racing with every word, 'Aurora Basilikos, Peter Hamlin. For picking the black spade you will all work together from here on out as Team Grape.' He had said it, he had given their team a name. Now all that was left was her damnation. 'Led by,' Greta's heart sank, 'Greta Hexenpfahl.'

With that single pronouncement Greta felt an unbearable weight on her shoulders. She hadn't come here to lead. She had come to this school to get some easy direction, some way of preventing herself from having to make big decisions for herself. Now she had to look after other people, she had to be in control. She tried not to groan in despair as she saw the holographic display show their faces and their initials which now spelt out GRAP. With that image the entire first year now knew who she was and what her position would be for the next four years.

She barely noticed Peter's smile and attempt to congratulate her non-verbally or Rapture and Aurora's looks of personal accomplishment at successfully making it into a team. Instead she tried to prevent herself from showing her nervous and crushing despair to the others.

'Congratulations and good luck,' Professor Arc said, giving Greta a significant look that she tried not to shrink back from. 'I expect a lot from you.'

Greta found herself automatically marching back to her seat, barely realising what was going on around her as she struggled to process what had just happened. She had never expected any of this, if she had known what was going to happen she never would have tried ordering her team-mates around. She would have been so much happier if she had kept quiet and let someone else figure out a plan.

It was only after she flopped back down on her seat that she realised the rest of her team were whispering to one another.

'Why are we called Grape?' Aurora asked.

'I think it's a shade of purple,' Peter offered. 'I'll be honest, I'm not sure what to make of it.'

'We'll be the laughing stock of the school,' Aurora continued, a hint of panic in her voice.

'Quiet,' Rapture then interrupted. 'The next group are being called up.'

Greta tuned them out again as she began to stew in her own nervousness again, minutes passing by unnoticed as she underwent her internal crisis. Everything she had planned, which admittedly wasn't much, had been thrown up into the air and scattered to the wind. She was completely unprepared to be a team leader. Now what was she going to do? How much did she have to decide for her team? What would happen to them if she failed? What would happen to _her_ if she failed?

'Greta,' a voice suddenly penetrated the whirlwind of her mind. 'Greta, you with us?' Greta felt someone shove her shoulder. She turned and looked to see Rapture was looking at her, her large, rough hand on her shoulder.

'Sorry, what?' she slurred, trying to get her bearings again.

'They're done picking teams,' Rapture whispered to her. 'The headmaster's about to give some kind of speech.'

'Oh, right,' Greta said in response. 'Thanks.' She turned to see there were no more students on the stage. Professor Arc stood in the middle, holding the microphone. Professor Smith had also climbed up on to the stage and walked up next to him.

'Now that were done,' Professor Arc began, 'I would like to congratulate you all once again. You students are a credit to those who have already taught you. You have all proven that you are worthy of a place in this school. From here your lessons will begin, preparing you for your potential future as a Huntsman or Huntress. Your teams will be with you for the next four years of your lives. It is your duty to support one another and the responsibility of your leader to guide you. Good luck everyone, I look forward to seeing what becomes of you.'

Once again, the headmaster stepped away from the microphone and was quickly replaced by Professor Smith. The older man didn't have a scowl but his presence still carried a lot of authority and weight that demanded everyone's attention.

'Regular lessons begin tomorrow,' the deputy headmaster said. 'Your curriculum and weekly schedule will be sent to your scrolls within the hour. You have also all been assigned a team dorm room that you will be staying in for the next year. Your luggage has already been sent to these rooms so don't worry about having to collect it from the hall. After this ceremony you are free to do as you wish but I expect you to get properly rested for your lessons tomorrow morning.'

Both professors then walked off of the stage, leaving the students to get ready.

'So shall we find our room?' Peter suddenly said to the others. Greta turned to see he already had his scroll out and was flipping through his messages to find the school notification that had their dorm room displayed on it.

'I vote for that,' Rapture said, standing up and stretching. 'I could use a lie down.'

'Agreed,' Aurora said wearily. Greta saw the tanned girl was leaning forward in her seat with a tired expression.

'Sounds good to me,' Greta mumbled as she pulled herself out of her seat. The revelation of her new team leader status had left her exhausted. She just wanted to lie down, sleep and hopefully not have to think about her future for as long as possible.

The first year dorm was a spacious building built and decorated in a similar, classical design as the main hall. Their room was situated on the third floor, which had pleased no-one as it meant climbing stairs in their current exhausted state. Greta had largely made the trip in a disconnected stupor, following Peter who had kept the directions up on his scroll and led the group to their designated room.

'Well here it is,' Peter said as they now stood in front of a door in the middle of the hallway. 'Home sweet home, I guess.'

'Room 86,' Rapture read as she looked at the door.

Greta didn't say a word, she just moved forward, grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. The room was surprisingly spacious had four desk-sets with simple hologram projectors attached to them, two large wardrobes, several sets of drawers and smaller cupboards and four large single-beds. In the middle of the room was a large window with a latch, showing that it could be opened. There was also another door on the left-hand side of the room that was slightly ajar. It showed that it led into an en-suite bathroom with a single bath, toilet and sink. The bath also had a shower attachment on it and there was a small window placed high up the outer wall of the room that could be opened slightly.

'Not bad,' Rapture said as she walked forward, brushing against Greta as she tried to take a closer look at the room. Feeling uncomfortable from her team-mates clustering behind her, Greta walked forward and threw herself down on the nearest bed on the left-hand side of the room.

'I am so done with today,' she said as she sprawled over the bedspread.

'I hear you,' Peter said as he went over to the bed next to hers and lay down on it with a heavy sigh.

Aurora and Rapture went and sat down on the beds on the right-hand side of the room. Aurora was swaying and rubbing her face in exhaustion, smearing make-up she had put on earlier in the day without any care as she tried to fight off her fatigue.

'I don't know about you,' Aurora then suddenly said, 'but I'm going to have a bath and go to bed. I think I've done enough work for one day.'

'Wake me when you're done,' Peter said, not bothering to get up. 'I'm going to get a cat-nap in.'

It didn't take long for Rapture to also stake claim to a turn in the bathroom but Greta didn't care. She just wanted to relax. If she fell asleep before the others were done she figured she could just take a shower in the morning. Reaching into her pocket, she took out her scroll.

Aurora had already picked up her toiletries bag and had gone into the bathroom, locking the door. Peter had fallen asleep if the quiet snoring was any indication to Greta and Rapture had taken out her own scroll and was quietly reading something from it. Greta turned her attention back to her scroll as she heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. She brought up tomorrow's curriculum and class schedule. It seemed their first lesson would be Grimm studies starting at nine in the morning.

Thoughts of tomorrow brought back her fears for the future. Greta's heart hammered as she once again thought about the consequences of her new position. Once again exhausted, physically and mentally, she threw her scroll onto the bed beside her and lifted her head up to look at Rapture.

'Wake me when you're done,' she said and then let her head drop down again. She was asleep before she even heard Rapture give her affirmative.

* * *

If there was one thing Jaune Arc despised about his job it was the paperwork, well except for when he had to deal with the Council. Since it was the beginning of the school year he now had to deal with all manner of administration concerned with the new students, the affirmation of placements for those who had passed Initiation, the notifications for the families of those who had failed or been injured and dorm placement confirmations.

On top of that he now had to deal with all of the paperwork that dealt with his school's participation in the Vytal Tournament. After so many years of deliberation, protest and discussion, the tournament was finally being renewed. Jaune, as one of the people who had been at the last Vytal Tournament nearly thirty years ago, had been on the side against restarting it, though he admitted his reasons were personal and somewhat selfish. Still the delays could only have lasted so long and finally, the Vytal Tournament would be starting again this year.

As he went over the confirmation forms affirming that his school would be participating in the event and following the rules approved by all four kingdoms he thanked all the gods that Shade Academy was actually hosting the tournament. He couldn't even imagine how much work it would take to actually organise the tournament itself.

Much like the rest of the school his office had been built to emulate the original academy. His office was situated high up in the Beacon Tower, just below the iconic beacon itself and was surrounded by transparent, reinforced glass that showed the immense clockwork gears that contributed to the beacon working somehow. The rest of his office was built around the similar utilitarian transparency with little to no additional features other than his desk and chair. Of course he knew that there was more to the room than it initially appeared, such as the holographic projectors tucked, almost invisibly, into the floor and walls. There were also the various folding panels that held, among other things, a coffee-maker, a water-cooler and other seats for visitors.

The only thing that actually broke the minimalist aesthetic of the room were the various framed photographs Jaune had placed on his desk. He had the usual pictures that people would expect of a Huntsman his age such as a team photo from his school-days, a photograph of his wedding and a few family photos taken at various quieter points in his life. To Jaune the pictures were little points of light in the comparatively grey room he spent his days in.

As he finished off the last of the dorm organisation forms he heard the elevator arrive. Looking up from his desk, he saw John Smith walk out of the elevator, his scroll open and in his hands.

'John,' he said, brightening up at the sight of his rather old friend.

'Jaune,' the older man replied with a slight grin. 'We almost finished?'

'The room arrangements are almost done,' he answered. 'All I've got left to do for tonight is send off the Vytal stuff to the committee.'

'Well I'm sorry to say this but,' John began, an apologetic expression on his face, 'I've got some more to add to the pile.'

Jaune groaned and put his head in his hands. 'What is it now?'

'Well,' John began, 'Atlas has sent us a surprise. There's two student teams waiting to come up to your office. They're apparently here to help deal with terrorist groups.'

'That's just what I need,' Jaune moaned again, his head still in his hands. 'Send them up,' he then sighed. 'I'm done with this paperwork.'

'Right,' John replied and then tapped his scroll. 'They're on their way up.'

'Did they tell you anything else about why they're here?' Jaune then asked. 'Maybe something about what they're looking for? What they're going to do? Where they'll be staying?'

'They were rather tight lipped,' John replied. 'The leaders refused to say anything specific unless you were present.'

'Great,' Jaune sighed, rubbing his face yet again. 'You've got to love Atlesian stubbornness.'

'Well they're on their way so we both get to experience it together,' John said with a fake smirk.

'You're right,' Jaune continued, smoothing out his hair and composing himself. He sat up straight and tried to look as dignified as possible, ordering the papers that were still on his desk. He wondered for a moment whether or not the photo frames ruined the austere atmosphere that the rest of the office was supposed to show but ignored these thoughts as the elevator arrived.

A very strange assemblage of students walked out of the elevator and into his office. Unlike what he had expected, the Atlesians did not march in wearing the usual smart and clinical uniforms of their academy. Instead a bright collection of young men and women dressed in various forms of armour walked in. A couple of them were chatting with the person next to them and there was a general atmosphere of casualness.

That all disappeared when he looked at the two people leading the group. One was a massive stern man with slightly tanned skin, dark hair and a surprisingly aristocratic face. He wore a suit of heavy plate armour that covered all but his legs which were covered by more normal black trousers. On the breastplate were carved inscriptions that Jaune could not read from across the room. Next to him was a young woman with even darker skin who carried herself with a lot of confidence and had an authoritative expression on her face that held a hint of self-satisfaction. She too was dressed in heavy armour that hid her figure and was painted a deep green colour. On the centre of her breastplate was a raised symbol of a stylised eye painted in red.

The group walked across his office until they were halfway into the room and then stopped. Almost instinctively they immediately moved into a long line, every one of them standing in an order that Jaune assumed they had figured out a long time ago. Though they were all young and obviously students they were also somewhat older, indicating they senior students, most likely third or fourth years.

'It's a pleasure to meet you all,' Jaune said in his most diplomatic tone.

'Thank you for receiving us,' the dark-skinned man spoke in a clipped and disciplined tone for someone so young. "I am Geoffrey Strong, leader of Team Gold from Atlas. These are my team-mates.' He then turned to indicate three others, a boy and two girls who nodded politely.

'Olivia van Rot,' the girl closest to Geoffrey said, nodding in greeting. She was an average sized girl with pale skin, light blonde hair and was dressed in a red jumpsuit with deep, blood red armour plates over her chest, shoulders and thighs. A long red cloak that reached down to the back of her ankles was draped behind her, fluttering slightly despite their being no breeze. Despite her size she seemed to be somewhat hesitant in the way she carried herself.

'Lily Smith,' the other girl next to Olivia said after her. She was tall and very broad compared to her companions. She too was in armour but it was one of the more complete sets and was coloured deep green with a long, black cloak draped over one shoulder. She had dark skin and hair and had a rather casual expression on her face and a somewhat open smile. She seemed to look at him most of the time but her eyes would occasionally wander and follow the gears in the wall.

'And I'm Darius Augustine,' the boy said, taking a small step forward and giving a short bow before straightening again. Like the others he was armoured though it was a far heavier and more complete set that was painted bright blue with golden trim. He had light skin and auburn hair and was one of the broadest and most obviously muscular of the team.

'As I said,' Geoffrey began again, 'we are Team Gold.' He then turned to the other group who straightened now that attention was being given to them. 'This is Team Schwartz, also of Atlas.'

'A pleasure to meet you,' the girl in green armour said as she stepped forward. 'I am Selene Lupina, leader of Team Schwartz.'

Jaune saw she introduced herself with authority and deference but he also noticed a smug self-assurance underneath. This girl obviously knew something he didn't and enjoyed doing so. What she didn't know was that he had seen those expressions on enough people to recognise them. She probably didn't know that he knew she knew something he didn't that he probably should.

'And these are my team-mates,' Selene continued, sweeping her arm in their direction.

'Wilhelm Augustine' a boy who was practically a mirror image of Darius said with a respectful bow of his head. His armour, whilst just as heavy as Darius' was a brownish read and seemed to be covered in scripture and written text that was emblazoned in gold. Jaune wasn't sure what to make of the young man as he straightened back up.

'Rex' a large boy grunted at Jaune. He had a discontent frown on his face and had his arms crossed defensively in front of him. He seemed to look everywhere except at others and when he did it was usually preceded by a small glare of impatience and frustration. He was a massive man who towered over his peers and the heavy, dirty, unpainted armour he wore made him look even bigger.

'Zarina Ocula,' the last member of the team, a petite girl in red said. Unlike Rex, who was immediately right of her, she seemed to have a more positive disposition and was eagerly drinking in the office as she cast a sharp, analytical gaze over the entire room and everyone in it.

'Well it's a pleasure to receive you all,' Jaune said after a small cough. 'I must admit I was a little surprised to hear that Atlas had sent you ahead of the rest of the investigatory committee.'

'I'm sorry,' Selene said with a theatrical look of slight embarrassment. 'The headmaster managed to convince the Council to send us ahead. We'll be working as a preparatory team.'

'They think students would look a little less conspicuous,' Geoffrey interjected, 'With so many people travelling to the Vytal Festival the Council think the Elder Society will be more likely to miss our presence.'

'Ah yes the Elder Society,' Jaune said in a falsely forgetful tone. 'Well I'm glad that you'll be here to help root them out. They've made a real nuisance of themselves around here.'

The moment the Gold leader had mentioned the cult Jaune's mind had gotten to work. He and his friends and family had been investigating rumours of the insane Grimm cult for years now and it was only with the rise in crime and terror attacks that they had been able to operate in the open with government support. Despite his frustration at increasing levels of Council interference, Jaune was grateful for the assistance. Now he just had to figure out the best way to deploy the students in front of him.

'Indeed,' Geoffrey replied in a flat tone. 'That's why we'll be here to search for them. Do you have any reports of suspicious activity that we can consult?'

'Not here unfortunately,' Jaune replied. 'The Vale Police Central Precinct handles those records. As hunters in training you should be permitted to enter their archives but there is a waiting period for non-governmental employees.'

'I understand,' Geoffrey replied in his even tone, a slight frown giving away his frustration at the news. 'We will start there and likely patrol the districts as we wait for the period to expire.'

'Great,' Jaune said. 'Now about accommodation,' he began, 'I'll be putting you all the student dorms. According to the Council message I got when this plan was put together your cover will be that you're all transfer students so I'll be expected to treat you as such.'

'We have been given permission to explain our investigation as training,' Selene said before Jaune could continue.

'That's fine,' Jaune said, accepting the justification. 'You will have to attend a couple of classes though, make some attempt to keep up appearances. You are still technically in training as well so I'll be expecting you to finish your education here.'

Several of the group frowned at what he had told them but Geoffrey stepped calmed them with a raised hand.

'That's understandable,' he said. 'We expected something like this.'

'Great,' Jaune replied, visibly brightening and giving them all a disarming smile. 'I'm prepared to offer whatever assistance I can reasonably provide and I expect the same from you in return.'

'Of course,' Selene replied. 'Now,' she then said, turning to look at all of her companions. 'I think its time we all got some rest. It's been a long trip and we need to be ready to begin the investigation as soon as possible.'

'Good point,' Geoffrey said, turning to look at her. He then turned back to Jaune. 'With your permission of course.'

'Go ahead,' Jaune replied. 'The reception desk has your dorm assignments so just ask them.'

'Thank you sir,' Geoffrey replied with a nod of his head and then turned on his heel. The rest of the group gave their own thanks and followed after the Gold leader, entering the elevator and then disappearing from the room.

Jaune leaned back in his chair and sighed. 'This makes things more complicated.'

'We could use the help,' John pointed out, speaking up for the first time since the new students had arrived. 'The more support the kingdoms give us the more we can spare our actual assets. We're hard pressed for time and manpower.'

'You don't have to tell me,' Jaune replied, running his hands through his hair in frustration. 'I just don't like sending students into this mess. They're too young.'

'So were you,' John replied. Jaune raised his head, fixing his friend with a harsh and tired glare. 'Sorry,' John quickly said. 'But you see my point. It doesn't matter how old they are. If we deal with this quickly, before it gets out of hand they can avoid everything we had to endure.'

'You're right,' Jaune sighed again. 'I'll deal with the rest of this tomorrow. I'm gonna call it a night.'

'I'll see you in the morning then,' John said, turning to leave.

'Yeah,' Jaune said, turning his head back to his desk, 'I'll see you tomorrow. I've just got to clear up a couple of things.'

'Right,' John said as he stepped inside the returned elevator. Without another word he pressed a button for the ground floor, giving a nod as the doors shut.

Letting out a long breath of exasperation, Jaune laid back in his seat. He rubbed his face with his free hand, tired from a very long day. However, even though he had said he was calling it a day, there was still one more task left for him to do. Leaning forward, he tapped at the glass surface of his desk. A digitised keypad appeared on the interactive cover of his desktop and he typed in a password. One of the holographic projectors in the floor immediately folded out and displayed a videophone screen. Straightening in his seat, he typed in a number and waited as the screen showed him it was waiting for a response.

A blank, silhouette appeared in the identification section but an audio box did appear and reacted, showing him the person on the other line had answered the call.

'Hello?' a familiar, feminine voice called over the line. Jaune knew that her scroll's screen would show a similarly blank display. Despite not being able to see the other caller's face he smiled. He was more than happy to just be hearing his wife's voice.

'Ruby,' he said in greeting.

'Oh hi honey,' Ruby replied, her voice sounding cheerful. 'I'm actually really glad that you called right now. I think I'm onto something.'

'Really?' Jaune asked, rising in his seat. 'What have you got?'

'Well,' Ruby began, 'the group I've been tailing for a month now has just upped and left their camp. They'd been staking out some cave mouth for weeks but now they've finished whatever they were doing in there.'

'Did you get anything of what they're doing?' Jaune asked, now concerned.

'Sorry,' Ruby replied. 'I wasn't able to get close enough. The Grimm I was accidentally attracting while I was watching them were already beginning to make them suspicious. All I got was them pulling a box out of the cave before they started packing up.'

'That's alright,' Jaune replied. 'Anything is good.'

'Thanks honey,' she said. 'I'm still following them now but they're getting a boat ready. I overheard that they're heading to somewhere in Ostensia. They might be trying to take advantage of the last of the chaos in Mistral.'

'Right,' Jaune said. 'I'll write that down somewhere. I haven't really got that much to say on my end. The Council in Atlas seem to be giving us all of their support now. They've already sent two student teams to help in the investigation.'

'Students?' Ruby asked, mild disbelief in her voice.

'Yeah,' Jaune sighed. 'I don't like it. I don't want to see people that young going through what we did.' His thoughts turned to unpleasant memories of his youth and the trials he been forced to undergo, the losses he had suffered. The idea that anyone, especially students he was responsible for, enduring the things he and his friends did was one of his worst nightmares.

'Well,' Ruby began in an optimistic and reassuring tone, 'if we do a good enough job they won't have to. I really think I'm onto something with this lead so I'll try to get to the end of it before I get recalled.'

'Well good luck,' Jaune said. 'I'll send you the information on these teams in a minute.'

'Thanks Jaune,' Ruby said. 'Love you.'

'I love you too,' Jaune said, a small, genuine smile on his face. He then ended the call and brought up a series of information files on Team Gold and Team Schwartz. With the press of a button he connected the files to the encrypted channel and sent them to Ruby.

Sighing again, he fell back into his chair and looked at the small piles of paper sheets and administrative work that still lay on his desk. Breathing heavily through his nose and running his hands through his hair, he began collecting them into a single pile. He straightened the collection of files out and then picked them up, tucking them into the crook of his left arm. He then walked over to the elevator and recalled it.

It took several seconds for the elevator to return to his office and open up for him. Stepping into it, he turned around and looked back into his office. He peered past the great glassy expanse of the room, past his desk and chair and out through the window. As he stared out into the night he tried to see if he could make out the lights of Vale. Slowly, but all too quickly for him, the doors shut, cutting Jaune off from the view and returning him to his thoughts on his students, the new arrivals and the figures in the shadows who continued to dog his life.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well the teams are finally formed and it only took about 34,000 words to get there. Now, like the show the characters here are based on a particular theme that was the basis for their characterisation. Some were probably more obvious than others. The ( _primary_ ) characters are as follows:

Team GRAP-fairy tale villains.

Greta Hexenpfahl-Witch from Hansel and Gretel.

Rapture Brostein-Troll from Billy Goats Gruff.

Aurora Basilikos-Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty.

Peter Hamlin-Pied Piper from the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

Team TEAL-characters from late 19th & Early 20th Century fictional literature.

Thomas Underhill-Frodo Baggins from the Lord of the Rings.

Elizabeth Coburg-Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.

Adelheid Schnee-Jadis: the Witch Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia.

Lach Boucanier-Long John Silver from Treasure Island.


	5. Chapter Five: Lessons Begin

**Chapter Five: Lessons Begin:**

 **September 6** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

A soft but insistent droning filled Peter's ears, waking him from a fleeting dream that quickly vanished and faded away from his memories. Moaning lightly, he slowly opened his eyes, blinking several times in order to clear them of sleep and the fuzziness left over from the previous days fatigue. His vision coming into focus, he looked up and grabbed for his scroll, which his headphones were plugged into. Activating the screen, he saw it read six forty-five, the time he had set it to wake him.

He lifted himself up into a sitting position, pushing the duvet off of his body as he yawned and stretched his arms over his head. He felt stiffened joints pop as he splayed his limbs and flexed. He had mixed feelings about limbering his body, sometimes enjoying the sensation of loosening up and sometimes despising the unpleasant feelings that it gave him. Still it was necessary for him. He needed to be spry and loose for his combat style to work and he couldn't afford to be stiff.

Looking around the room he saw the girls were still asleep, Greta and Rapture snoring at different volumes but looking rather peaceful as they slept. He hadn't really come to any conclusion about how he felt sharing a room with several girls, and being outnumbered by them. Whilst he was pretty sure some part of him was overjoyed about boarding with three girls his age he was, on the whole, worried. He had female cousins who had had occasionally visited his home every now and then. He knew that if he ever did anything to them that they didn't like that they could and probably would gang up on him. These girls also lived with him so if he upset them there would be no escape for him. He was stuck with them and he would have to work hard to avoid making any real faux-pas.

Despite accepting that, what he was about to do would probably piss some of them off.

Yawning again and feeling much more clear headed, he looked to the side of his bed. Their uniforms had been delivered to their rooms before the end of Initiation and Peter had laid his to the next of his bed with a change of underwear placed underneath. His toiletries bag was also next to it. With the others still asleep he could steal the shower first.

Swinging off the bed, he quietly placed his feet down on the carpeted floor and bent down to pick up his bag and the bundle of clothes. As an afterthought he also grabbed his scroll and the small speaker he had brought with him. Lifting them, up proceeded to walk towards the door of the en-suite bathroom attached to their room. When it had finally been his turn to use the shower the previous night he had seen that one of the girls, most likely Aurora, had already placed a large collection of shampoo, conditioners and other beauty-care products on the sink counter-top and in the cabinets that had been provided. These items and the amount of time Aurora had spent before her turn was over had told him what to expect from her when it came to actually using their private bathroom.

Quietly he padded across the room, glancing at the girls as he passed them by. He moved slowly, not wanting to put a foot out of place. A part of him knew he was taking this far too seriously and probably looked ridiculous as he cast about the room with a paranoid look and tiptoed his way to the room's bathroom. Still, he admitted he had a vain side and that he rather enjoyed taking his time getting ready. It was probably selfish of him but he was willing to accept that, he wanted, no needed, the time.

He made his way to the bathroom and turned the handle. The click of the lock's mechanisms moving aside made him wince as they sounded so much louder in the relative quiet of the room. The subsequent creak of the door as he opened it, despite the hinges being so well oiled and rust-proof, made it much worse and he grit his teeth.

The door finally open, he stepped inside and flipped the switch. Light flooded the smaller room, revealing the white porcelain of bathroom fixtures. He turned to shut the door when he heard stirring. Peter turned his head and froze when he saw the covers on the right-most bed in the room shift. Aurora was getting up.

He froze like a deer in head-lights as he saw the dark-skinned girl pull her body up into a sitting position, rub her eyes once and blink several times. She seemed slightly alert, indicating she was, like him, a morning person.

'Peter?' she said, still slightly incoherent from sleep. She blinked again and then looked at him. Her eyes widened in realisation and then narrowed in hostility as she figured out what he was doing. 'Peter,' she said again more sternly. 'Don't you dare.'

Peter stared at her with a deadpan expression, his eyes moving slightly to look at the door, as if he were weighing his options. As Aurora pulled herself out of bed he made his decision. He lifted his left hand, his right still holding the door, gave her a slight wave, a cheeky smile forming on his face, and then shut the door. He locked it just in time to hear Aurora shriek his name. He turned away just as a heavy thud came from the door, he flinched at the sound but settled down as he heard several other lighter impacts follow it. Thankfully, Aurora wasn't going to actually break down the door to remove him.

'Worth it,' he said to himself as he placed all of his items down on the sink counter-top. Plugging his scroll into the microphone, he queued up several songs, pulled his own shampoo out of the bag and began to undress.

* * *

'Peter!' a loud voice shouted, penetrating the dark veil of sleep and scattering the pleasant dreams that had filled the void. Greta was shook awake by the screech, forcing her out of a dream that was already fading away. Her vision was unfocused and she shook her head furiously as several loud thuds and more shouting got her attention.

When her eyes finally cleared up and she had blinked a few times she finally saw what was causing the commotion. Aurora, still in the dark purple nightie she had put on before bed, was hitting the door to the en-suite bathroom and shouting at it.

'Peter you open that door right now,' she shouted again, emphasising her words with several blows on the wood. 'I need to get ready for class and I won't let you steal the time I need to prepare. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?'

'Wha's goin on?' Greta managed to say, her question broken by a loud yawn as she tried to jog her sleep-addled brain.

'I think Peter just stole the bathroom,' Rapture said, her voice sounding much more aware. Greta managed to see through slightly glassy eyes that the faunus girl looked much more awake than she felt right now. This impression was then broken when she saw Rapture, yawn, stretch her arms and proceed to flop unceremoniously back onto her bed.

'What time is it?' Greta groaned as she threw her arms forward in front of her body to prevent herself from also falling backward onto the bed. Her head followed her arms as she gave up on trying to hold it up, making it look like she was trying to reach her toes whilst sitting down.

She sat like that for several seconds before she realised she wasn't going to get an answer. Rapture had gone back to sleep and the continued banging on the bathroom door indicated that Aurora hadn't yet given up on trying to hassle Peter into leaving. Groaning again she groped around for her scroll which she had put on a small bedside table between her bed and Peter's. Opening it up and blinking from the glare of the holographic display's light, she saw it read six fifty one. Falling backwards with another moan of annoyance, she shut her eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately the noise Aurora was making ensured she wouldn't be allowed to fall back into blissful sleep. Opening her eyes again with a frown, she sat up again with a sigh.

'Aurora,' she said, 'do you mind? Some of us are trying to sleep.'

The dark-skinned girl, who was now glaring at the door as if her stare could bore through the wood, turned on her.

'Do I mind?' she said, a wild look in her eyes. 'Peter's stolen the bathroom. Who knows how long he'll take in there.'

'Its not even seven,' Greta replied with a groan. 'We have like two hours before class.'

'Two hours to get ready _and_ have breakfast before class,' Aurora shot back. 'That's nowhere near enough time for all of us. Do you have any idea how long it takes me to get everything right.'

'Then use the dorm's showers,' Rapture said wearily. Greta saw that Rapture was still lying down and her eyes were still screwed shut but she was definitely awake.

'The dorm's showers?' Aurora said, a look of mild disgust on her face. 'But we were given private one's so we wouldn't have to share them with everyone else. What's the point of having a private bathroom if you can't use it?'

'Listen,' Greta said, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to finally clear them. 'Since we're not going to get back to sleep we might as well get up. We'll all use the dorm's showers so you won't have to suffer alone,' she gave a pointed look at Aurora, 'and then you can let Peter have it when we're all done.'

Aurora's face scrunched up as she tried to broadcast her distaste with the compromise while still thinking it over.

'Fine,' she finally grumbled, a frown on her face. 'I'll get my things.' she went over to her large collection of bags and began riffling through them. She pulled out a make-up kit, a series of hairbrushes and her uniform as well as a change of underwear. She also grabbed a small duffel-bag that she placed on the bed next to the other items she gathered. She then stuffed everything she had collected into the bag and went over to her wardrobe, pulling out a black dressing-gown and putting it on.

Rapture sighed and threw off her covers as well, grabbing one of her bags and picking up her uniform. She then proceeded to dig out the toiletries she had used the previous day and stuffed them into the bag with her change of clothes. Greta was a surprised for a moment by how quickly her team-mate was moving. She could have sworn the faunus girl was some kind of reptile. Shouldn't she be sluggish and slow-moving when she got up?

Rubbing her tired eyes one last time, Greta threw her own covers to one side and hopped off of her bed. She soon realised how much space their collected luggage took up. There was very little space between the boxes and bags, most of which belonged to either Peter or Aurora.

'You think we should get unpacked?' she asked absent-mindedly.

'Save that for after class,' Rapture suddenly said. 'I don't think we'll have time before classes start.' She threw a pointed look at Aurora who didn't notice.

Greta, meanwhile, had picked up her own uniform, a change of underwear and a few beauty products that she bothered to use on a regular basis. It was then that she realised she didn't have anything to carry them in.

'Uh,' she began, aware of how weird the request would sound. 'Do either of you mind if I borrow a bag or something. I don't really have one.' She raised her gathered items in her arms to indicate what she meant.

'Here,' Aurora immediately replied, throwing a small handbag at her. 'I want it back when you're done.'

'Uh, thanks,' Greta said hesitantly and then stuffed her items into it. Finished, she looked back at the other girls. 'We all ready?'

They both nodded. Smiling, Greta walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. 'Peter,' she called. 'We're going to get ready in the dorm showers. We'll meet up at the cafeteria.'

She heard what sound like an affirmative from her partner and then turned away from the door. Seeing that her other team-mates were ready they all walked out of their room. They saw there were other students who were already up and heading in the direction of the showers. A few who still looked very tired threw them dirty looks the moment they saw them walk out of their door . It seemed that quite a few people had been woken by Aurora.

As they walked down the corridor Greta suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday. She had been made team leader.

Anxiety flooded into her again in a matter of seconds as the scary thoughts that had occupied her mind returned. Today was the first day of class, their first day as a proper team and she would have to start organising her team-mates. They had already had a crisis with Peter stealing their room's shower and upsetting Aurora. Would she now have to help them get over it? Would she have to punish Peter? What was she supposed to do in times like this?

'You alright Greta,' a voice suddenly said.

'What?' Greta said in a confused and drowsy tone, turning to see Rapture had spoken and was looking at her.

'Well you're about to walk into the showers and you're still dressed,' Rapture said with an eyebrow raised.

Greta turned and saw she had walked past the cubicles and was about to enter the actual shower room with her nightie still on and her bag in her hands.

'Oh,' Greta said, flushing in embarrassment. 'Sorry I was thinking about something.'

'Is something wrong? Rapture asked, a small look of concern emerging on her face.

'No, no. I'm fine,' Greta replied, waving Rapture's concerns away. She then walked over to a rack of towels and took several fresh ones. She saw Aurora and Rapture had already grabbed some and were in changing cubicles, undressing and taking out various shampoos.

She went over to an empty cubicle and stepped inside, locking the door. She stripped off her nightie and the underwear she had worn to bed and wrapped the towel she had taken around her body. She didn't really have that many toiletries and didn't want to get Aurora's bag wet so she took the bottles of body wash, shampoo and conditioner she had out of it and stuffed her night-clothes into it.

She saw Aurora had gotten out, her body covered by a towel as well, and her put her bag on a series of shelves on the other side of the room. Stepping out of the cubicle she did the same, walking up to the shelves and placing the bag on a space. She was hesitant to do so at first, unsure on whether or not it was safe to just leave her belongings, and Aurora's bag, out in the open like this.

As she turned around she saw Rapture, surprisingly, had only just stepped out of her cubicle. The moment she saw the faunus girl, her large body also covered by a larger towel, she stopped and stared. Rapture was obviously large but her sheer size seemed even more obvious now that she was undressed. Greta stared at her scales, watching the large leathery plates flex and slide over one another. Despite a part of her telling her it was rude she stared with open fascination, amazed and disgusted in equal measure. It was grotesque and fascinating the way the rough edges moved like leather with a rubbery flexibility.

It took several seconds for Greta to realise that Rapture had stopped in front of the shelves, put her things on a shelf and was now glaring at her. Greta saw her team-mate now had a harsh scowl on her face as she stared her leader down.

'Ah,' Greta said, fumbling for words. 'I, uh... sorry.'

Rapture gave a derisive snort and walked into the showers. Greta stood still, embarrassed at herself. Her old fears about being a team leader returned quickly now that she had actively upset a member of her team. Her head low, she walked into the showers and grabbed a cubicle. Turning it on, she let the water wash over her as she let her fears churn inside her head. Then, after her thoughts had reached an unbearable level of self-recrimination, she punched the wall in front of her.

The sudden pain of cracking her knuckles against the tile of the wall snapped her out of her depressive thought cycle and brought her back to reality. Sighing and trying to distract herself, she picked up the shampoo and began to wash her hair.

While she liked her long hair, Greta would admit every morning and evening that it was a pain to clean and a pain to keep clean. At the same time, the long, drawn out repetition of lathering, washing and rinsing was strangely soothing to her. It certainly helped calm her thoughts as she went through motions she did on a daily basis. A part of her was also happy that Aurora had woken her when she did. It took forever to clean herself and she probably wouldn't have been able to do it properly and get ready for school if she had got up any later.

Once she had finished with her hair she rubbed herself down with the body wash and turned off the shower. She grabbed her towel and began drying herself off. When she was finished she wrapped the towel around her and walked out of the cubicle. There were several girls still waiting for showers to free up, some of them looking very impatient now.

Greta saw Rapture had also finished and was heading back into the changing room. Without a moment's pause, Greta quickly walked up to her.

'Uh, Rapture,' she said hesitantly. The faunus girl rounded on her and fixed her with a neutral expression. 'I'm, uh, sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to stare.'

'Sure,' Rapture said in a flat tone, 'Doesn't matter. It happens all the time.'

'Um, thanks,' Greta said. She wasn't sure if things were okay. At the very least she had apologised so that should have helped smooth things over with her team-mate.

She walked back into the changing room, seeing the stacks of towels were still rather large and grabbed another one for her hair, pulling her hair up and wrapping the towel around it until she had made what looked like a tall, cotton turban. As she towelled herself down she saw Aurora, surprisingly, had finished before her. She was dressed in her new uniform and was standing in front of a mirror applying make-up from the kit she had brought along. Greta walked past her, grabbed the bag with her things in and looked for a spare changing cubicle to get dressed in.

Her wait for a cubicle to become vacant didn't take that long and she grabbed it before anyone else could see. She tried to get dressed as quickly as possible, slipping into her new uniform with a minimum of trouble. It was rather uncomfortable but she was sure it was just the usual issue with wearing new clothes. It probably wouldn't take her too long to get used to wearing them. She let her hair down and brushed it carefully. On most days she preferred to take more care drying it but she normally didn't have to catch up with other people and so made do with just making sure it was straight and properly dried.

Stepping out of the cubicle, bag in hand, she went over to the mirrors that lined one of the walls. Reaching into the bag, she took out a small compact case that contained the sum total of the make-up she bothered to wear. She didn't bother applying much, sticking to touching up a few spots on her face and then put the case away.

By the time she was finished she saw that Rapture had also gotten and dressed and she and Aurora were waiting for her. Greta noticed that she wasn't the only one who looked uncomfortable in her clothes. Rapture appeared to be constantly fidgeting with her new blazer and shirt, pulling at it irritably and occasionally thumbing the edge of her skirt, clearly not enjoying wearing the garment.

Now together, the three of them decided to head to the cafeteria as they had said they would. Checking her scroll, Greta saw it was nearly eight, enough time for breakfast.

The walk to the cafeteria was a quiet and somewhat awkward one. Despite having apologised, Greta wasn't sure if Rapture had really accepted it. The taller faunus girl had an impassive look on her face and seemed to keep her eyes in front of her as she walked down the hallways. Aurora, on the other hand, seemed to let her eyes wander everywhere, as if she were drinking in her surroundings. Despite showing much more interest in what was around her than her partner, the dark-skinned girl still kept her usual imperious expression on her face. Greta even mused at one point that Aurora would probably start walking with her nose in the air in order to look down on the people around her.

They had all been to the beacon cafeteria before, having gotten their breakfasts from there the day before. Like nearly everything on the campus the room was large and almost unnecessarily extravagant. Built to accommodate hundreds of students at once if necessary, the cafeteria itself stretched on for a considerable distance. Row after row of superficially ornate tables lined the room in a careful order that still allowed plenty of room for students to move about the room. At one side of the cafeteria was the queue to the kitchens. There were already dozens of students sitting at the tables and eating with many more waiting in line for their chance to get breakfast.

As Greta looked around the room she saw Peter was waiting near one table, chatting with a couple of other students. He seemed to be scanning the doors, despite the conversation he was having. The moment he saw her and the other girls he perked up and left them, making apologies to the other students as he walked away.

'Good morning,' Peter said as he walked up to them, a smile on his face. The moment he was within a metre of them Aurora strode forward, a scowl on her face.

'How dare you,' Aurora seethed, towering over him and prodding his chest with a finger. 'After I find you trying to steal the bathroom you not only lock me out after I tell you not to, you also decide to make fun of me.'

'I'm sorry,' Peter said with some dis-ingenuousness. 'We never set up a rota or schedule or anything and I just got up to go in first.'

Greta stood on the side as she saw the two argue, unsure of what to do. She had no idea what action to take to clam her team-mates down and didn't know enough about them to find some way of calming them down either. For several seconds she watched, cringing as she saw Aurora get increasingly agitated and Peter become defensive. It was when she saw other students were watching them that she decided it was best that she do something to defuse the situation.

'Guys, guys,' she said, forcing false confidence into her voice and stepping between the two. 'Both of you stop. It's not worth it.'

'Peter,' she then said before either of her team-mates could get another word out, 'we will be setting up a schedule. No more trying to steal the shower.' Peter nodded his affirmative. Satisfied, she then turned to Aurora. 'Is that alright?' she asked. 'Because it is getting really embarrassing to talk about this.'

Both of them looked behind them and saw dozens of students were watching them. Aurora. Releasing what she had been shouting about and how many people had probably heard her flushed red and made a horrified expression. Peter looked a little more composed but he too was blushing as he realised how swept up he had become in the argument.

'Now can we get breakfast, please?' Greta finally said, feeling almost as embarrassed now. She saw both of her team-mates had nodded wordlessly in agreement. Rapture walked up to them, giving them all an expectant look of her own.

The group went over to the queue and joined it. The long line waiting to collect food moved surprisingly quickly and they managed to file their way along the kitchen display in a relatively orderly fashion. Greta, when she got there, once again decided to keep her palate simple, picking toast and one of the pre-fried eggs. She also snatched several ginger-bread men from a pile, deciding she would need the sugar if what she had gone through this morning was a precedent for the day.

Glancing back she saw Rapture had piled up what appeared to be grilled fish alongside several small sausages and some toast. Aurora and Peter, by comparison, were more restrained with their meals, choosing combinations of toast, fried eggs and bacon slices. She did see Aurora grab some strawberries from a fruit tray whilst Peter picked up a muffin.

They went over to the tables, Greta looking for a free space. Her hopes lifted when she not only found a spare table but saw that Team TEAL had sat near it as well. She saw Lach notice her them and then wave at her as she angled herself towards them, the rest of her team following after her.

'Morning,' Lach boomed jovially as Greta sat down in the seat next to his. She smiled in him at response and returned his greeting as her team-mates took their own seats, Peter by her other side and Rapture and Aurora sitting across from her. Aurora sat down next to Adelheid who gave her a short glance with an indifferent look. The Schnee girl nodded politely and then returned to her breakfast, Aurora doing the same.

'So,' Tom began casually, 'have you checked the timetable yet?'

'Uh,' Greta began dumbly, realising she hadn't actually read what lessons she was supposed to have. 'No,' she finally admitted after a lengthy pause.

'To be expected,' Adelheid muttered quietly, fixing Greta with a disapproving look.

'It should be in a new email,' Tom continued, ignoring Adelheid if he had heard her. 'It's got all of our lessons for the rest of the week. They've said that we'll get weekly updates though because our lessons might change.'

'Says, we've got Grimm studies first,' Lach said, looking at his opened scroll which displayed a timetable.

'Followed by engineering orientation and then modern languages,' Peter said after opening his own scroll and finding the message. 'Seems the afternoon is a free period though.' He idly ate as he scanned his eyes over the various boxes detailing the curriculum.

'We haven't got free periods for the rest of the week so I assume this will only apply to today,' Adelheid said. 'It's likely we've been given this to help acclimate ourselves to the school.'

'They'll probably give us a lot of homework as well,' Aurora said as she daintily ate her food.

Greta was a little disappointed at the small point of logic Aurora had made. She had actually liked the sound of a free afternoon where she could lie back and try to figure out how she would make the rest of the week work. If every morning at Beacon was going to end up like the one she just had she knew she needed a lot of time to adjust and prepare.

'Ya sure we don't?' Lach suddenly asked. 'There's all these empty spaces that say open session in them'

'That's for personal study,' Tom suddenly said. 'I think we're supposed to use the slots for training or something.'

'Really?' Lach said. 'That's a shame. I was rather liking the idea of more free periods. Oh well.' He recovered very quickly and began to look over his schedule with more diligence, muttering to himself as he did so.

Greta, whilst she wasn't ignoring her friends, had spent most of the conversation eating her meal and thinking. She supposed that as team leader she would have to decide what her team did with their open sessions. A part of her moaned internally at the thought of even more work and she let out a sigh as the reality of her new school status crashed down on her again.

It was as she silently pondered on what she would be doing whilst eating her own breakfast that she noticed the large digital clock hanging on the wall across from her now read eight forty. They had to finish getting ready and they had to do it quick.

'Guys,' she said, snapping several of her friends out of whatever conversations they were having. 'We've got like twenty minutes before class starts.'

It took only a few moments before everyone caught on to what she had just said. What followed could only be described as an organised panic. Every single member of both teams picked up their trays and began striding - or in a few cases jogging – towards a disposal area where several trolleys also held dirty kitchenware. They binned their leftover meals, a few of them grabbing whatever portable food they get off their plates and placed their trays on the stacks. A few members of the group, most notably Peter and Adelheid, had obviously worried looks and kept glancing at the clock as they moved.

Exiting the cafeteria, they ran back up to their dorm rooms. Greta burst through the door and began rifling through her things. She found the schoolbag that had been delivered to them yesterday with their uniforms. She grabbed the textbooks she expected to be relevant to the classes she had for the day and stuffed them in along with a notebook and a small pencil-case. She saw Rapture doing something similar though with a little less panic whilst Peter and Aurora grabbed pre-prepared bags that were already full. Peter also picked up a water-bottle and stuffed it into his bag as well before he ran out of the door.

Team GRAP rushed out of their room, Peter leading the charge. They were joined an instant later by team TEAL who also clutched bags to themselves as they rushed to the classrooms. Greta opened her scroll with a flick of her wrist and saw the display now read eight forty eight.

'Ten minutes guys,' she said before picking up her pace again. She was surprised to see both Adelheid and Lach suddenly sprint past her after saying that, the same worried expression on their faces.

They raced across campus, dodging the other straggling students who were rushing to their classes. Greta ended up staying in the middle of the group as she found she wasn't able to outclass Adelheid and Lach - who had managed to dash fast enough to catch up with Peter - at the front.

Adelheid led the way and Greta trusted that she knew where their class was. They all, thankfully, had the same classes together for the day so she didn't have to worry about ending up in the wrong room. Though she wasn't paying that much attention she once again found that the school upheld its classical aesthetic with the halls of the main school having a very old fashioned design.

Finally, after running up a flight of stairs and down several corridors, Adelheid led the group to a large classroom built in a similar manner to an auditorium. The room was semicircular with the desks slopping down to a lowered floor. The desks were built into the curve of the bowl of the room and enclosed a stage at the opposite end of the room. A lecturers podium was built into the front of the stage and small flights of stairs lay on either side of the raised structure, giving easier access to it. Dominating the wall across from the door was a massive blackboard that was currently clean. Several sets of chalk were already laid neatly on the blackboard's mantle.

There were already several students who had filled the rows. Most of them had gravitated towards the back, taking up the furthest rows from the podium. Several had already taken their scrolls out and were surfing the interlink before class began.

Seeing there was no other real option Adelheid once again took charge and began marching down one of the front rows, sitting down in the front row on the right-hand side of the room. Lach followed after her, deciding it was worth staying near his team-mates during class was a better idea. Tom joined him, followed by Elizabeth who sat down next to him.

Greta decided to take charge of where her team would sit and went for the row immediately behind Team TEAL. There wasn't enough room for all of them on the row that Adelheid had taken so she decided the next best option would be to sit directly behind and slightly above them. Peter sat down on her left with Aurora and Rapture following after him. The moment she settled down in her seat she opened her bag and took out several text books, her notebook and a writing pen.

The next few minutes were spent absently doodling in the margins of her notebook. There wasn't really any rhyme or theme to her drawing but the exercise quickly caught her attention and, in a matter of minutes, she managed to fill a corner of her page with a rather intricate pattern that was largely composed of round shapes and sweets. She was currently in the process of carefully adding the details to a small ginger-bread man when she heard the door open again.

The class went quiet as a petite, young woman walked into class. The woman wasn't in a uniform and clearly wasn't a student so Greta assumed she was either their teacher or an assistant to the lesson. Greta noticed the woman had a smile on her face and a slight skip in her step as she walked onto the stage and turned to face the class.

Greta thought that the woman was surprisingly small, appearing to be barely any taller than she was, maybe even a little shorter. The woman had bright red hair that she kept tied in a ponytail that still flowed past her shoulders and part way down her back. She was dressed in a formal dress shirt with a ribbon tied in a bow around the collar and a blue and green blazer over the top. Her trousers were the same blue and green hue and ended in rather dainty looking shoes. The entire ensemble seemed to shimmer in the room's lights, giving a rather bright appearance as she moved.

'Good morning class,' the woman said, her voice having an odd accent that gave her words and almost musical lilt to them. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I am Professor Alayne Siog and I will be your Grimm studies teacher."

Greta was almost taken aback by the sheer amount of open cheer the woman seemed to exhibit as she addressed the class. She had met a few eccentric teachers at Signal but had never seen anything like the tiny red-headed woman who had walked over to the blackboards behind her and was currently writing her name out on them.

'Now,' Professor Siog continued, turning back to the class and fixing them with a slightly more serious look, 'it will be my job to guide you all through the fascinating world of the Grimm who, even now, throw themselves at our borders. I will teach how to identify them, how to track them and, most important of all, how to kill them.'

Greta decided to lean back in her seat and get comfortable. She was listening to the introduction but she saw no need to make any notes just yet. The teacher was clearly taking them all through the motions of a beginners lesson.

'Now I hate to take you all through the basics again but this first lesson will be all about how to identify the basic Grimm that exist in our part of the world.' Professor Siog then picked up a small remote on her desk. Pressing a button a white screen began to slowly roll down from the ceiling and a pedestal holding a projector rose out of the stage floor. Greta wondered, for a moment, what the point in the blackboards was if the classroom had this kind of equipment.

Greta stayed leaning back and began to tune out the professor as she continued her introduction. It didn't look like the red-headed woman wasn't going to say anything she hadn't already heard before at Signal. Idly looking around, she saw she wasn't the only one. Lach had leaned forward in his seat and currently had his hands cupping his chin, a tired and bored expression on his face. Elizabeth, surprisingly, had gotten all of her things out, placed on the desk and then left them. Instead she had taken out her scroll and seemed to be quietly checking out something on the interlink.

The others, however, seemed to be far more attentive. Adelheid, Peter and Tom all had notebooks out which they quickly scribbled notes into though Peter and Tom didn't look especially interested despite their dedication. Aurora and Rapture were doing the same though they seemed even less enthralled than the boys and Greta swore she saw her dark-skinned team-mate doodle in the margins of her notebook every now and then.

Professor Siog continued on in her presentation, showing slides that depicted Beowolves, Ursa, King Taijitu and other Grimm that were common around the Valesian border. The professor did appear to be excited, maintaining her chipper attitude and often looking at the class to see their reactions. After a few close calls where she swore that Professor Siog was eyeing her specifically, Greta decided to pick up her pen and at least made an effort to appear like she was transcribing notes.

The lesson went on and despite Professor Siog's upbeat attitude and attempts to be energetic, it seemed to drag to Greta. She didn't see the need to go over stuff she had learnt years ago and the unnecessary effort she had to make was making her a little irritable. Abandoning her attempts to even pretend to make notes, she instead returned to decorating the page of her notebook.

She was currently in the process of turning what had begun as the drawing of a ginger-bread man into an elaborate gingerbread house that covered most of the notebook's page when she heard the professor change her tone.

'So now that we've covered the basics who can tell me what they know about higher level Grimm?' Professor Siog said, scanning the entire class, most of whom suddenly became a lot more involved not that she was looking directly at them.

'Um, well,' Greta suddenly heard Peter say as he raised his hand.

'Yes,' Professor Siog said, honing in on him with a welcoming smile. 'What is it mister?...'

'Hamlin, professor,' Peter replied, looking at her and the others for support. 'My team and I fought a Malecorn that we found in Emerald Forest.'

'More like ran into,' Aurora mumbled, giving a pointed look at Rapture.

'Really?' Professor Siog asked, visibly surprised at what Peter had told her. 'Well that certainly is interesting,' she then turned back to address the class as a whole. 'The Malecorn isn't native to our part of Centrasia and most of the beasts that were attracted by the Witch War were cleared out. I'm surprised that one managed to hide so close to Vale without being discovered.'

'You'd think a Huntsman Academy would do a better job at getting rid of Grimm,' a student behind Greta mumbled.

'What was that?' Professor Siog suddenly asked, turning to look at the unfortunate student. She still had a smile on her face and looked relaxed but Greta was sure the professor had heard the comment quite clearly.

'Uh I said that I was surprised that there were still so many Grimm near the school,' the student replied nervously.

'Is that so?' Professor Siog asked, still sounding welcoming and warm but also sending a chill down the spines of many students. 'Well, as you all know, Grimm are attracted to negativity. Now I could make a comment about teenage angst,' she paused to let out a couple of giggles, 'but there is more to it than that. Did you know, children, that Grimm are also attracted to one another?'

There was a slight pause as the class considered what the professor had just said. Greta hadn't known that but the more she thought about it the more the idea made sense.

'Now,' the professor began again, 'while its not as strong an attractant as human or faunas negativity, the mere presence of a beast of Grimm can be enough to draw more to the general area. Since Beacon is isolated from the rest of the main kingdom we appear vulnerable to the less developed Grimm and so they congregate.' She turned away from the class, walked over to the chalkboards which were now uncovered since the projector screen had been retracted and began scribbling on them.

'Once enough basic Grimm beasts have gathered in a given area they start to draw in higher tier species as well,' Professor Siog said loudly as she made her own notes on the topic for the class. 'This is, of course, something we will cover in future lessons but I want you all to think about the effects large numbers of Grimm have on an area.'

It was just as the professor finished her last sentence that the bell rang to announce the end of class.

'Oh,' she said with a little chuckle. 'It looks like I finished just in time.' her countenance then became somewhat more serious. 'Now class I want you to be ready tomorrow for our first proper lesson. We won't just be going over the basics again so I expect you all to pay attention and to show up ready to learn. Now, class dismissed.' She then waved them off and moved to begin wiping the blackboards clean.

Greta stood up in her seat and swept her things back into her schoolbag. She saw her team-mates doing the same, often with more care for their belongings. They had their engineering orientation next and it seemed Peter had already taken out his scroll and brought up a map of the school to help find the engineering department. With any luck that class would more interesting than Grimm studies.

* * *

The forges of Beacon were a state of the art facility that featured the finest quality machinery that Vale could afford. It was an organised labyrinth of work-benches, ammunition presses, small smelters, forges, brass tumblers and a variety of mecha-shift manufactorums. It catered to every kind of weapon that yet existed and was made to assure that no student went without the tools they needed to ensure their weapons were in top working order.

Greta was honestly impressed. She had seen the forges of Signal and they had been incredible but the sight of Beacon's high-tech foundry was almost awe-inspiring, even to people like her who weren't exactly mech-heads or wrench-jockeys.

None of her friends seemed to be weapon-nuts either as while they too were visibly impressed by their surroundings they weren't gushing over the equipment like a few of their classmates. Greta saw a faunus girl with mouse ears eye a shelf filled with half-finished mecha-shift components with rapt attention, ignoring everything else around her as she scanned the complex machinery. Greta of course appreciated the necessity for such a large facility and the importance of maintaining her weapon but she never felt the almost parental obsession she had seen some of her classmates at Signal exhibit.

'Welcome everyone,' a loud exuberant voice shouted over the noise of the workshop.

Greta turned to see a large rotund man stride through the workshop, gracefully dodging the equipment in his way despite his broad physique. He was obviously quite old but seemed to move with a lot of energy and his forearms were thick, muscular and quite hairy. He was primarily dressed in thick and soot-stained workman's apron but Greta could see he also wore red trousers and a white shirt that were also faded and stained. His face was rather worn with noticeable lines around his eyes and creases over his brow and a clipped white beard and moustache covered his lips and chin. He wore a smile almost as infectious as Professor Siog's and moved in a welcoming and friendly manner as he walked up to the students.

'Good morning students,' the man said as he stopped just in front of them. 'I am Professor Nicholas Glas and I will be your advanced engineering and mechanical studies professor. I'm also Beacon's forgemaster so if you want to make use of these facilities, come to me.' He beamed at them after finishing his introduction.

'Now then,' the professor continued, 'it's my job to show the ropes around this place. I'm pretty sure, being Beacon students, that you all know your way around weapon forging. Since you should already know the basics I'm here to help you with the more advanced stuff that Beacon offers new students.' He punctuated his statement by sweeping his arm at the rest of the workshop behind him.

'Sir,' Greta heard Adelheid shout. She turned to see the Schnee heiress had put her hand in the air.

'Yes young lady,' Professor Glas responded.

'Does this facility come equipped with the materials we would need to upgrade our weapons or equip them?' Adelheid asked with confidence.

'An excellent question,' Professor Glas said. 'Though not one that gets asked very often. Most students assume, and rightly so, that Beacon is already equipped with the stuff they need to outfit themselves. Still, to answer your question, yes Beacon does have large stocks of alloys, manufactured parts and processed Dust.'

'Is the Dust already prepared into cartridges or will we be crafting them ourselves?' Adelheid asked next.

'Whichever's your preference really,' Professor Glas responded. 'We mostly have pre-prepared cartridges, usually the standard stuff but we also allow for students to make their own ammunition if they prefer.'

'Thank you sir,' Adelheid said, satisfied with her answer.

After that point the lesson simply became an introduction to the various facilities that the forges offered. Most of them were already familiar to Greta but she did listen as Professor Glas began introducing features that Signal had not possessed. Whenever she wasn't paying attention to the lectures she was watching the flames in the forges. She liked fire, the way it moved and smouldered and the heat it gave off. She found it almost bizarrely fascinating, especially when students and attendants fanned the flames and made them stronger. When she was a new student at Signal she had in fact almost hurt herself by getting to close to the forge's flames.

'Are you alright,' Peter suddenly asked, snapping Greta out of her thoughts.

'Wha?' she asked, a little disoriented. 'Sorry, what was that?'

'Just wondering if you're alright,' Peter replied with a confused look on his face. 'You were just staring at that forge. Most of the class has already moved on.'

'Huh?' Greta replied. She looked around and saw that Peter was right, most of the class had followed after Professor Glas who was showing them another part of the workshop.

'Oh, uh, I'm sorry. Just kinda...spaced out,' Greta said, flushing slightly.

'It's alright,' Peter said. 'I mean you're not the only one who's wandered off. I was just wondering if you were going to follow the rest of us or not'

'No, no, I'm done,' she stuttered in response and immediately took off after the large group of students who were checking out the manufactorums at the other end of the large workshop.

As the lesson wore on Greta decided that whilst she wasn't a mech-head she would certainly enjoy her time here. Fire was her element, it called to her and asked her to reach out, caress it and wrap it around her body and the fires of Beacon's forges seemed especially bright.

* * *

Greta lay back on her bed and looked at the schedule on her scroll. The moment actual classes had ended for her she had immediately gone back to the dorm, changed out of her uniform and put her more comfortable green trousers and t-shirt again. Though she had only worn it for a day she had decided she wasn't a fan of the school uniform, especially the skirt. It seemed almost impossible to relax in such a garment, especially if she ever decided to lie back anywhere or uncross her legs.

The rest of the morning after Professor Glas' seminar had been alright if substantially more dull. Professor Jin's modern languages had, like the others, been more of an introductory session for the first years. She had mostly told them about the languages they would learn. A large part of the curriculum seemed to be made up of rather minor languages from parts of Vacuo and Mistral. Professor Jin's philosophy seemed to be that as long as Huntsmen and Huntresses served humanity they would also have to learn how to speak to them, all of them, and apparently Global Standard wasn't good enough.

Despite Aurora's warnings they hadn't actually been given homework and none of the teachers had actually made any suggestions on what they should do with their time. This implied self-sufficiency terrified Greta, it left her almost on her own to decide how to spend her time. Signal had a clear schedule for the students and she had gotten very comfy slipping into the routine it had given her. Now she had to construct one for herself and the team-mates she was responsible for.

Her team had also split up and gone their own ways as well. Peter had said he was looking for a music room he had heard about, Rapture had decided to go for a walk around the grounds and Aurora had said she wanted to explore the library. Greta hadn't felt like exploring though, she had maps of the school so she could find her way about easily enough.

Sighing, she shut her scroll and lay down again. Her first day had been alright, the issue at the beginning of the morning not withstanding but it had also given her an understanding of what lay ahead for her. Professor Arc had of course warned them all things were going to be hard but she had just thought that meant having to fight Grimm. A part of her wanted to round up her team and work something out right now but another wanted to just lie back and make the most of what she figured was going to be a spare moment of relaxation. She decided she would wait for her team to return, then she would get them to help her make a schedule they could all work to. Her mind made up she put her scroll back in front of her face and opened a tab to the interlink.

'One day down,' she sighed to herself as she picked out a video to watch, 'four years to go.'


	6. Chapter Six: Things Are Now In Motion

**Chapter Six: Things Are Now In Motion:**

 **September 6** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

The outer districts of Vale, despite the Council's best efforts, were still very poor. Street blocks that had been built to house returnee citizens had been left abandoned due to people's fears of the - at the time - unfinished defences. Now rows of empty houses lined the areas along the north-eastern reaches of Vale where the edge of the reconstructed, Old Residential District met the rebuilt walls.

Due to its abandoned and increasingly dilapidated nature, the emergency services, especially the police, did not bother patrolling this area. When fires broke out the residents, rain, or heavily guarded convoys of fire-fighters were responsible for extinguishing the flames before they threatened legally populated areas. Gangs had flooded into the area along with organised criminal groups. The black market thrived in the empty warehouses and shops that had originally been planned for the area and battles over territory were frighteningly common. It was the perfect place for those who didn't want to be found by the authorities.

A large group of people stalked through one of the ruined streets that night. They were all dressed in rough clothing, had grim expressions on their faces and were openly armed with a variety of blades and firearms. Dressing in quality clothing, going unarmed or running around in hooded cloaks were what made you highly conspicuous and if you wanted to survive, even if it was only for a relatively short visit, you had to look and act the part.

At the head of the group was the only person who stood out. A young woman dressed in a long, black dress with silver lining strode at the head of the group. She had ebony trousers on that ended halfway down her shin and were visible through a slit in the left-hand side of the dress that ran up to her mid-thigh. On her feet were black high-heels that had a sharpened heel reinforced by Dust. Around her waist was a golden belt and attached to it was a pair of holsters that held pistols. Her skin was light and she had long, dark brown hair that she held in place with a silver head-band. Her face, which was classically beautiful, held an expression of superiority and derision for her surroundings.

Iseabal Beathas strode forward without any concern for the sort of people who frequented the district. She knew that she could easily protect herself from any degenerates that called the dilapidated region home and even if something that could overcome her own skills appeared she knew she was also protected.

She was a woman on a mission, along with those who currently walked behind her. It was a mission that had defined her entire life and, though she hid it well, she was more excited than at any other point in her life now that the mission was beginning to get under-way. In fact the only thing that frustrated her now were the types of people who she had to work with. Her brothers and sisters in ascension, those who walked down the street with her, knew what they were working towards. The people she was coming to visit, however, were not so enlightened and their petty demands did nothing but infuriate her when they got in the way of her duties.

Her destination was one of the larger buildings at the intersection at the end of the street. It was a small apartment high-rise that looked like it was built for wealthy residents. The structure was four stories tall and built in a semi-classical Valesian style. It had decorated colonnades that held up an arch over a once grand doorway and gracefully bordered windows that had long since lost their glass panes. Now it was the base for a cell of a minor but notorious organisation, the Red Fang.

Claiming descent from the infamous and loathed White Fang, the Red Fang were a vengeance organisation and the last gasp of the traditional faunus rights movement that preferred using violence as a means of gaining respect. After the systematic, brutal and utterly horrific way the White Fang had been dismantled and exterminated few faunus were willing to throw their lot in with anyone associated with the organisation. The fact that the White Fang had fought alongside the nihilistic and genocidal forces of the witch Salem had also done no favours for their image. The Red Fang were a group of terrorists and murderers filled by the dispossessed and the enraged that wanted nothing other than vengeance against humanity for the faunus who had been so readily killed during the Witch War.

Compared to their supposed predecessors they were objectively pathetic but they were also useful and so Iseabal had recruited their aid for her own group. It hadn't been easy though. Their own racist prejudice and maniacal devotion to their almost nihilistic misanthropy had made it difficult for her to convince them to side with her and her other human cohorts. They had, eventually come around thanks to a lot of effort on her part and she had been forced to showcase the resources she intended to give them early in order to sweeten the deal.

Her group walked up to the building and through the door. Not even slowing for a moment they came into a cavernous hallway that led on into pitch black darkness. It was designed in the same semi-classical manner as the exterior of the building but was completely featureless in every other way. Stains from a variety of sources covered the walls, floor and ceiling and mould growths filled the corners.

Iseabal ignored the signs of neglect and decay that now surrounded her and walked down the hallway until she began to make out a grand staircase through the darkness. Underneath it, in the shadow of the staircase's underside, was a hidden passage. Out of the entire dirty and crumbling structure the door that was cut into the floor was the cleanest part of the entire room. The door was hidden as part of the floor, having been built out of one of the massive marble slabs that the rest of the hallway's floor was built from.

Bending onto one knee, she pulled out one of her pistols and beat the butt of the handle on the fake slab ten times, pausing every three beats until the final one. She then returned the pistol to its holster and straightened back up again. It took half a minute for her to hear a response which came in the form of seven taps in sequence.

The slab quickly rose up and was pushed aside onto another part of the floor. Underneath it was a narrow tunnel with the iron rungs of a ladder in one of the walls. Standing inside the hole that led to the tunnel was a large faunus man. He wore the dirty brown coat and white uniform that were common for the Red Fang. What was most distinctive about him was the red Grimm mask with white claw scratches over it.

'We're here to see Miss Laal,' Iseabal said.

'You the Society lot?' the man asked.

Iseabal narrowed her eyes and frowned, thoroughly annoyed that the degenerate would delay her with unnecessary questions. Their leader knew they coming so this uppity doorman was just holding everyone up with his pointless attempts to assert himself.

'Yes we are,' she said in a level tone.

'Right,' the grunt replied. 'She's waiting for you.' He then lowered himself back down the ladder.

Iseabal let out a sigh of frustration at having to go down such a passage in her best clothes. It had, of course, been absolutely necessary that she make an appropriate appearance before the animals but it did make travelling through their lairs difficult.

She went down the tunnel first, carefully walking down the ladder. Thankfully the tunnel wasn't very far as the Red Fang didn't have the resources to build anything extensive into the existing infrastructure. She came to the bottom and stepped to the side to let the rest of her followers make it down. She used the time she had to clean herself off, brushing dust and fragments of rust off of her hands and clothes.

The tunnel led into a large room, presumably the cellar or storage room of the building above them. There was a door at one end of the room that was heavily boarded up, assuring the current inhabitants that no-one would enter that way. There was, however, another, much larger hatch on the far-right wall that was large enough to fit a piano through. It, like the other door, wasn't new and was likely built to allow the house above to store larger objects. Stacks of officially unmarked boxes filled the corners of the room, crude, freshly painted Red Fang symbols depicting a bloody wolf head daubed on them.

The room was filled with masked faunus wearing clothes similar to the guard who had let them into their base. Though she couldn't see their faces she could practically feel their raw hatred wash over her and the group, their glares burning through their red masks.

At their centre was a tall faunus woman who sat upon one of the larger crates and eyed the group as they slowly lowered themselves down the ladder into the cellar. She was powerful, with an athletic build, dark skin and long ginger hair. The tips of wide cat ears, one of which was mutilated and torn, poked out of the hair on the crown of her head. She wore a pair of tight, black trousers a, white top that exposed her taut and muscular midriff with a black half-shirt over the top of it that was open slightly at the front. Her face was covered by an elaborate, red painted Grimm mask that looked like a stylised tiger's face roaring at whoever she turned to look at. On her right hand was an armoured bracer with a large mecha-shift kit attached to the outside. It was obvious that whatever this woman's weapon was it folded out of the complex looking box.

This was Aanjay Laal, the leader of all Red Fang operatives in Vale, queen of her small and insignificant fiefdom. At the same time she was also one of the most feared fighters outside of Beacon and had personally butchered dozens of law enforcement officers, devastated robotic units and had even defeated a professional Huntsman who had gone to bring her to justice. She was drenched in blood, just like the symbolic mask she wore on her face. She had been a member of the organisation for years and her parents had supposedly been born into the last remnants of the White Fang and had gone on to become founders of the Red Fang.

'So you've finally come?' the faunus woman said.

'Yes we have,' Iseabal confirmed. 'We're here to give you your marching orders.'

The atmosphere in the room became far more intense. Iseabal could feel the hateful glares the faunus were now giving her and her group. Several of her brothers stepped forward, their weapons in their hands again.

'Enough!' Aanjay snapped, a scowl visible despite her mask covering all of her face but her mouth. Her lips were pulled back in a savage snarl that exposed prominent canine teeth. She then turned to look back at Iseabal.

'Who do you think you are to give us orders?' she said, venom dripping through her tone.

'I think I'm the one who's responsible for everything you have in these boxes,' Iseabal responded. As she spoke she activated her semblance, sending her Aura out throughout the room.

Whilst she spoke she thought of them obeying her, projecting a desire for humility and acceptance out to the Red Fang even as she maintained her authoritative appearance. She wormed her way into their minds, sending the select emotions and ideas into every faunus in the room. Her semblance had been how she had recruited them in the first place and now she needed it to keep them compliant.

'Alright then,' Aanjay said after another tense moment. Despite being subjected to Iseabal's influence the faunus girl still seemed to have control over herself. Several Red Fang members had been so heavily affected that they looked like they were about to bow down before her. Iseabal was glad that she had stopped before they did that, she didn't need any obvious evidence of her tampering showing up. A part of her expressed extreme frustration that she needed to use such an unsubtle employment of her semblance to bludgeon through their stubborn hatred.

'So what do you want us to do with all of this?' Aanjay asked, relaxing her stance a little and gesturing to the boxes around her.

'Just a little trouble,' Iseabal replied with a smirk. 'As long as it isn't related to Beacon directly I don't mind who you target.'

* * *

Iseabal walked out of the Red Fang hideout feeling rather satisfied with herself. It had taken much less effort than before to get the Red Fang to obey orders. It meant that the animals were finally learning.

She smirked to herself as she felt another small feeling of accomplishment. The Red Fang weren't vital but the more damage they did to Vale the closer she and her brethren would be to completing their mission. The final goal was so far away but the more work they did the closer they would creep towards it. She was closer than any other Elder Society member had ever been and that knowledge made her almost giddy with excitement. Deep down inside she was almost dizzy with anticipation.

It wouldn't be much longer now. There was still a long way to go but the further they got the ball rolling, the faster it moved. Soon, their time would come.

 **September 9** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

Greta smiled as she and her team walked down the streets of Vale's central Commercial District. The first week of classes at Beacon had gone rather smoothly. She had finally worked some kind of rough schedule out with her friends about how to handle their open sessions. They had even, at Peter's suggestion tried to work out a rota for interpersonal training so they could test their skills against one another. It had all been rather helpful and now that she had a routine to work her way into she felt a lot more comfortable.

Next week the more advanced classes such as combat and applied Dust studies would begin. Peter and Aurora had been very helpful in sorting out a proper schedule for the first week's open sessions. It was when they were sparing on the grounds outside campus that they had also run into Team TEAL. Tom had then immediately suggested they set up some joint sessions so that they could study and practise together and maybe learn some things from one another.

Today, however, was Saturday and Team GRAP had decided to go down into Vale itself. It had been Peter and Aurora who had told her that morning that they were going to the city to get some things for the upcoming Vytal Tournament. Bored and having no plans for the weekend, she had asked if she could come along. Shortly after that they had also managed to pester Rapture into joining in as well and had all grabbed the nearest skybus down to town.

She was somewhat surprised when she had asked Peter what he wanted to get and he had answered with "clothes." Asking Aurora had elicited the same answer and she had then gone on to explain that the Vytal Tournament was traditionally preceded by an inter-school dance and ceremony and that they would have to pick outfits for it. Peter and Aurora had then argued that since the tournament was taking place in Vacuo and that they would be travelling to the other kingdom they would have to buy clothes early. Greta had pointed out that they could just as easily shop for something in Vacuo but both of her team-mates had been strangely adamant in at least checking the shops today.

Now they were walking down one of the streets in the Commercial District in the centre of the Vale megacity, Peter and Aurora at the front, talking animatedly with one another. Rapture, on the other hand, looked quite bored as she ambled behind them. She just seemed to be glancing in the windows they passed as she followed her team-mates.

'You alright?' she asked, slowing down a bit to meet up with her faunus team-mate.

'Huh?' Rapture grunted, looking like she had just been snapped out of a trance.

'You've been spacing out,' Greta said. 'Are you feeling alright?'

'Oh, yeah I'm fine,' Rapture replied. 'Just not really that excited about this shopping trip. This isn't really my kind of thing.'

'Not a fan of clothes shopping?' Greta asked, sympathising a little with her team-mate.

'Oh, no, no, I am,' Rapture replied. 'I've kind of had to get into it. It was hard to find clothes that fit me before I started looking into it properly.' She gestured to her body, obviously pointing out her reptilian skin.

'Huh,' Greta said, struggling to think of what to say next. 'I never really thought it was that hard. I usually just grabbed what I liked.'

'Yeah,' Rapture said with a smirk. 'I can see that.'

'Oh,' Greta drew out her words. 'And just what are you trying to say?'

'Wellllllll,' Rapture replied, dragging out her words as well with a smirk. 'Your dress looks weird with the rest of your outfit.'

Greta looked down at her favourite green dress which hung rather loosely over her body and gave away the trousers and shirt she was wearing underneath.

'Yeah, I've heard that a lot,' Greta admitted with a chuckle. 'I'm actually happy that it fits now. I didn't grow into this thing until about two years ago.'

'How long have you been wearing that?' Rapture asked, one eyebrow raised.

'Well I've owned it since I was about,' Greta paused as she tried to remember when she had first picked up the dress, 'six, I think. I picked it out of a good-will bin in the chaplaincy that was close to the children's home.'

'Why'd you pick that though?' Rapture asked, surprised at the answer that Greta had given her.

'Not sure, really,' Greta answered. 'I just liked it. It was, you know,... me.'

'Yeah, I think I get it,' Rapture replied with a nod, giving a look that said she still wasn't convinced.

'Guys,' Peter suddenly interjected, shouting back to them from a little further up the street. 'Aurora and I have found a place we're looking for. We're going to be going in to look around. Do you want to come with us or check somewhere else out?'

'Do you want to go in with them Rapture,' Great asked, turning back to the faunus girl.

Rapture made a face of distaste and shook her head slightly. 'I'd rather not.'

'Uh, I think we'll be checking some other places out,' Greta said.

'Alright then,' Peter replied. 'We'll call you when we're done then.'

'Thanks,' Greta said, glad he was taking it well. 'We'll probably stick nearby. We're just going to look for some things we wanted to get.'

'We'll see you later then,' Peter replied, following Aurora into a large clothing store that was filled with what looked to be rather expensive looking outfits.

Now on their own, Greta tried to think of something to do. Vale's Commercial District was a massive region, a city of shops, malls and restaurants that catered to the many millions of the kingdom's population. Since they were in the centre of the District there were a lot of options open to them but now they had to decide on one.

'So what are we going to do now?' Rapture asked, looking at her expectantly.

'Ummmm...,' Greta pondered, trying to guess something that Rapture might like. 'Do you want to check out some movies?' She asked, finally picking something she was sure they would both be interested in.

'Sure,' Rapture replied. 'Do you know where anything is?'

'Well I have a map of this place up,' Greta said, glad she had brought up the tab on her scroll when she realised she had no real idea where she was about ten minutes ago.

They spent another fifteen minutes carefully following the directions that Greta had brought up. She had checked the map to see if it had any shops that belonged to a popular chain of electronic stores. After finding one that was only a couple of street blocks away, she and Rapture set off to find it.

The shop they found themselves in front of was a part of a much larger mall. Whilst it was still very large it was much smaller than some of the immense department stores that surrounded it. It was also, conveniently, one of the shops that the mall presented to the outside, meaning Greta and Rapture could just walk in off of the street.

They walked inside of the shop and found several rows of shelves lined with slim boxes. At the middle was a wide central avenue that led up to a long, glass counter. The entire building seemed to be trying to evoke a modernised feel with everything being whitewashed and made of either glass or shining alloys that had been polished to a shining gleam. It had then been tarnished by dozens of customers coming and going over the course of the day and now looked slightly dirty in places.

Greta immediately headed in the direction of the drama section. Every genre category had a glass sign over, the text on it written in slightly fluorescent material that allowed the letters to stand out on the transparent background. She then began to check over the more popular films which had a notice light over their shelves telling people where the films were.

Greta picked up a box that showed two peoples' faces on the cover. Their foreheads were touching and the background colours were a rather muted wash. She glanced at it, not bothering with the title and then put it down again. She wasn't really interested in what the section had to offer, she was just waiting, watching Rapture carefully through sideways glances as she waited to see what her team-mate would do.

Rapture had gone off on her own, walking up and down the aisles as she seemed to scan the contents of the shelves. As she walked, Greta noticed that she was receiving numerous glares of distrust and distaste from the other patrons of the store as well as the staff attending the counter. Those who were in groups were muttering amongst themselves and a security guard in the corner followed her constantly with his eyes.

Greta quickly realised she had made a bit of a mistake going off and waiting to see what Rapture would do on her own. Dropping the film she had been picking up back on the shelf, she began to work her way to the part of the store where Rapture was currently browsing.

She found Rapture had stopped in horror and seemed to be taking an actual interest in the titles in front of her, ignoring the looks everyone else in the store was giving her. Greta quietly walked over to her team-mate and glanced around her shoulder. She saw Rapture was holding a box in each hand and seemed to be glancing between them, a thoughtful expression on her face. Whether it was genuine or purposely done, Rapture seemed oblivious to everything around her and simply scanned the titles in front of her with a quiet interest.

'You alright?' Greta asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

'Hmmm?' Rapture grunted, finally taking her eyes off of the boxes and looking at her leader.

'You, uh,' Greta tried to find the right words to say to the faunus girl. 'You seemed, uh, distracted.'

'We haven't even been here five minutes,' Rapture replied, raising an eyebrow.

'Oh, uh, right, yeah.' Greta fumbled her words, trying to figure out a way to broach the topic.

'Sooooo,' Greta said, trying to find another way of getting the conversation going, 'you like horror?'

'Yeah,' Rapture said a little more enthusiastically. 'I know its a bit weird, especially cause we're probably going to be actually fighting things scarier than what these movies come up with but I really like them.'

Greta saw Rapture pick up a box and show it to her. It depicted a young woman in torn clothing with creative spatters of blood on her body and a terrified look on her face. The background was mostly dark, showing a forest - presumably at night - with a clear spot that had a silhouette of a tall figure holding a sword. Behind him was an oversized moon that, thanks to the cover artists, made the villain's silhouette and the victim's lighter body and skin contrast with the rest of the background even more. At the top of the image was a title that read "Hunter's Moon" in a bold font, accompanied by a rather generic positive review quote at the bottom.

'I've really been looking forward to this one coming out,' Rapture then said. 'It's supposed to be really popular and most of the reviews have said its actually really scary. They got some good actors and I heard the villain is played by an actual Huntsmen who's been branching out into other careers. They filmed some of the scenes in actual wild forest outside the kingdom's borders and there's supposed to be extra material showing how a couple of the actors took on some of the local Grimm.

Greta watched as Rapture slowed down and got control over herself again. 'I've not been able to see it in theatres so I've had to wait for the digicard copy to come out.'

Greta didn't really understand Rapture's sudden enthusiasm for the film in front of her. She didn't particularly care about the horror genre, neither liking nor hating it.

'I see,' she said, struggling to find anything else to say. 'Well it looks like you really want to see it. Are you going to buy it?'

'I don't know,' Rapture said, her expression twisting into an indecisive one. 'I don't really have much of an allowance and this is going to really eat into my budget.' She paused for a moment and gave the box a look of regret. 'Oh, I really want to see this,' she groaned out, clutching it a little tighter.

Greta understood what Rapture was going through, having never had that much money to spend on herself. She knew what it was like to see something you really wanted right in front of you and yet beyond your reach due to money.

'Go on,' she said encouragingly. 'You've waited long enough haven't you and its not like you'll starve or anything. Beacon's paying for food and our room after all.'

Rapture paused, the pained expression never leaving her face. 'Yeah,' she then said. 'You're right. I'll get it.'

'Um, excuse me,' a new and hesitant voice suddenly said. Both girls turned to see a very nervous man in the shop's uniform standing nearby. 'I'm sorry to interrupt but the manager would prefer that you hurry and make your purchase please. You're disturbing the other customers.'

Greta was surprised, they had only been in the store for a few minutes and they hadn't been that loud. She turned to look at Rapture and noticed that her team-mate seemed to be far more angry at what she had been told. Greta saw that Rapture wasn't actually looking at the attendant who had talked to them anymore and was instead glaring beyond him. She followed the faunus girl's gaze and saw that most of the other customers were staring at them. She could see the other people in the building either looked nervous or angry, many of them glaring at Rapture in return.

'I understand,' Rapture suddenly said, startling Greta before she could say anything.

'Wait, what?' Greta stammered, looking back at her team-mate in surprise.

'Come on,' Rapture said before Greta could say anything else. 'I said I was going to buy this anyway so there's no point hanging around.'

'Are you sure?' Greta asked.

Rapture didn't answer and just turned around. 'Come on,' she said as she walked up to the counter at the other end of the store. 'Or did you want to get something?'

'Um, uh. No thanks,' Greta replied.

'Alright then,' Rapture said. She then turned away from her and stalked off to the counter. Greta followed after her. She saw her team-mate quickly put the box she had chosen down on the counter, offering it to a cashier that did nothing but scowl at her.

Greta felt nervous as she saw the cashier just stare at Rapture who frowned in return, the tense atmosphere persisted for half a minute as the cashier refused to take Rapture's purchase and just gave her contemptuous looks. Rapture didn't respond, simply standing still and waiting, still meeting the cashier's glare as she did so. Finally the other woman relented, picked up the film and scanned it. She gave out the price, snatched Rapture's lien card away when it was presented, ran it through the register and then handed Rapture the film in a bag with the card and the receipt.

'Let's go,' Rapture said barely a second later. She then turned on her heel and swiftly walked out of the store, Greta in tow.

As they walked out into the street Greta hung back a little from Rapture. She saw her friend had a deep scowl on her face that twisted into a frightening visage. Greta didn't trust herself to look her friend in the eye and not feel scared. Even after trying so hard to get accustomed to her team-mate's inhuman appearance she couldn't help but feel a little disturbed when she looked at the faunus girl's scaly, grey-green skin.

'Uh, Rapture?' Greta said carefully, catching up to her team-mate and putting a hand on her shoulder. 'Are you alright?'

Rapture slowed down and then stopped. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed, a depressed expression appearing on her face.

'I'm fine Greta,' she said, sounding upset.

'Look,' Greta began. 'I, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken us there.'

'No, no,' Rapture said, turning and looking at her. Greta was surprised to her deeply upset expression had now been replaced by a small, false smile that failed to hide the sorrow in her eyes.' It's my fault we got kicked out anyway. I should have known better.'

'What?' Greta said. 'No, no,' she denied emphatically. 'It's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. It's my fault. I knew the stores around here would act like that.'

Greta knew her team-mate wasn't at fault but she also knew very well why the store had told them to leave. Faunus were barely tolerated in the nicer parts of the megacity, usually being relegated to the more poorly constructed and under-serviced districts. Stores in the central Commercial District often didn't even service faunus or permit them to enter and even certain streets were human-only zones.

It was clear to anyone with eyes that the scars of the Witch War still ran deep. The White Fang had been instrumental in Vale's fall and had set back the Faunus Civil Rights Movement by years. Even after over twenty years of peace the damage wrought to Vale and Remnant as a whole was still far too fresh for most of humanity.

Greta herself knew she didn't like most faunus. When she had been growing up they were the criminals, they were the thugs who broke in and stole from the orphanages and chapels, the kids who bullied her and so many of the other kids, the criminals who scared off prospective fosters and stabbed the kinder directors. For most of her childhood Greta had even been scared of the nicer faunus kids that lived with her.

Rapture wasn't like that though. She was agreeable and friendly enough to not be off-putting to the others. She wasn't like other faunus. Rapture had at least not done anything to antagonise any of the team and because of that Greta had decided that Rapture was alright. She was one of the good faunus.

'Come on,' Rapture said, changing the subject. 'Let's go and find Peter and Aurora.

'Uh, sure,' Greta replied, not feeling comfortable at how quickly Rapture had dismissed everything. She pulled out her scroll and wrote a quick text to Peter telling them that they were heading to the store they had left him and Aurora in.

* * *

Tom hadn't really planned his first weekend as a student at Beacon. He had expected it would probably be similar to his days at Signal where he would have some homework and studying to deal with and free time to fill with whatever took is fancy.

Now, however, thanks to the insistence of his team-mates, they were all walking off of campus to one of the designated training zones in the surrounding countryside. They were all dressed in their usual combat attire and had armed themselves. Tom had made sure to take some extra Dust cartridges with him just in case they truly decided to do a live-fire exercise like Elizabeth had suggested in all seriousness.

After half a week of living with the girl Tom was honestly unsure of what to make of his partner. She seemed to shift in mood all the time. At one moment she would be friendly, joke around with Lach and be cordial around others and then the next moment she would be acting aloof and superior to them, sort of like Adelheid – she had even pursued the partition of their room with the same kind of shocked indignation as the Schnee girl. Even the ways she talked would change with her moods. One moment she would be speaking in a formal tone, her words carefully selected and then a moment later she would switch to a more casual and free dialect. Her bizarre attitude had made it very difficult for Tom to talk to her and it had definitely made her difficult to deal with when it came to organising their schedules.

Thankfully the idea of training against one another had been enough of an enticement to get Elizabeth to join them without any complaints. In fact she had seemed rather enthusiastic and had seemed rather impatient with the rest of the team when they were getting ready.

Now she strode at the head of the group. She had a large smile on her face and Tom swore he could hear her humming something as she hefted her axe on her shoulder every now and then. He had learnt, during one of his few genuine conversations with her, that the massive chain-axe was named White Shear and that she emphatically considered it her baby. Having been given his own weapon by his uncle he felt a little bit upset that he wouldn't feel the kind of attachment that so many hunters did with their own hand-made weapons unless he decided to make something of his own.

'Alright so I've been lookin' around and I've found this great place to try out some of our moves,' Lach said to the rest of the group. 'As far as I know the security still covers it but its really outta the way.'

'I suppose that sounds alright,' Adelheid said. 'I'm glad to see someone had enough foresight to find somewhere to practise.' She then paused for a moment as if rethinking her praise. 'I don't, however, understand why we can't just practise in the arena.'

'Simple,' Lach replied. 'You don't have to book the grounds before you use them.'

'True,' Tom conceded on his team-mates behalf. 'But do we even know what we're going to do when we get there?'

'Like I said,' Lach replied. ,Simple. We're gonna spar. We face off against one another and then we see where we need to get better.'

'I suppose that will be effective enough,' Adelheid said with a sigh and a frustrated expression. Tom could tell she wasn't satisfied with the arrangement but still couldn't guess exactly what her accepted standards would be or whether he could ever meet them if he did know.

They kept walking across the grounds, entering the edge of a patch of woodland to the immediate north of the campus. Elizabeth led the way, staying in front of the group but hanging back just enough to see which way Lach was actually directing them. They walked down a path that had been worn into the forest floor by frequent travel until they came into a large clearing surrounded by trees.

'Here we are,' Lach said with a small hint of pride.

'Not sure what I should have expected really,' Adelheid muttered just loudly enough for Tom to hear her. Tom shook his head slightly at his team-mates increasingly grating attitude.

'Alright then,' Tom said, taking charge. 'I think we should pair off, start with our own partners and see how we do against one another. We're going to have to try to keep it safe. We've got our scrolls monitoring our Aura so we can tell how we're doing. We should stop when we begin to get into yellow at the lowest though. We can't exactly do many sessions if we exhaust ourselves in the first fight.'

Thankfully no-one questioned him or the logic of his plan. In fact Lach and Adelheid nodded along with what he was saying. Elizabeth was listening but showed nothing other than frustration at how long he was taking, running her fingers along her axe as she waited for the others to finish talking.

'So are we going to start yet?' Elizabeh asked impatiently.

'I think Lach and Adelheid should go first,' Tom quickly said before anyone else could say anything. 'We'll need someone to watch each pair after all.'

The other nodded at his suggestion again, accepting the logic quickly. Tom was happy that he could, at least, hold off his turn a little bit longer. The more he spent time with his team-mates the more he was aware of the gap between his abilities and theirs. He hadn't been the best student when it came to actual combat and had barely met Beacon's standards. If he was going to keep up he was going to have to figure out how to fight smart instead of hard.

He watched as Lach and Adelheid walked into the centre of the clearing. They backed away from each other until there was a considerable space between the two of them. Lach drew his cutlass and held it in front of him in his right hand in a guard position whilst Adelheid drew her own blade, leaving the Dust-wand in its sheathe. She held it out in front of her in her right hand, tip pointed directly at Lach.

'Alright,' Tom said as he stood to the side of the two, backing away to give them more space. 'I'll monitor both of you,' he quickly brought up their stats on his scroll, 'and decide when we stop. You're not to get too close to where me and Elizabeth will be standing and be careful with stray fire.'

'I hear ya,' Lach said in response whilst Adelheid nodded, a sharp frown of concentration on her face.

'Begin,' Tom said, standing far back from the two.

Adelheid, wasting no time at all, summoned a glyph behind her, kicked her feet onto it and shot forward at Lach, her sword held out in front of her. Lach immediately moved, pressing a button on the handle of his cutlass. In less than a second the blade of his weapon folded backwards, curling over the hilt and a gun-barrel extended out of the guard and slid into place. He then adjusted to point it directly at Adelheid as she rocketed towards him.

Letting out a gasp as she realised what was happening, Adelheid grit her teeth, twisted in the air so her feet were now in front of her and summoned another glyph. Landing on it, the glyph forced her to move right just as Lach fired his own weapon at where she had just been an instant ago.

Landing back on the ground, she ran round Lach's flank, closing in on him with her sword held behind her. As she closed in on him she pulled her sword back round in a heavy swing. Lach, noticing what she was doing, switched his weapon back into its cutlass form and brought it up into a hasty guard position. He intercepted Adelheid just as she finally swung her blade at him, the force of her strike, sending him back several steps.

Lach quickly righted himself and pushed back against Adelheid who was already summoning a spinning glyph that was forming some kind of ice shard. She had a smirk on her face as she kept Lach in place and built up the large icicle. Lach frowned in response and began to glow. Adelheid's smirk disappeared as she felt the air around her partner become heavy. Then he exploded.

Adelheid was sent flying across the clearing, the icicle disappearing along with the glyph that had been forming it. Thinking quickly she formed another glyph that caught her. She landed on it feet first and took a second to reorient herself. She looked back at Lach and then quickly leapt to her left as he fired several shots at her from his redeployed handgun. The Schnee girl hopped forward again, raising her sword over her head in both hands and bringing it down on the ground in front of her. Her strike produced a series of glyphs that formed in front of her and then split into two lines. They surrounded Lach and formed around him in a ring.

Smirking, Adelheid then stepped on the glyph and shot forward. She ran along the line of glyphs, each step accelerating her until she leapt into the air. She struck Lach as she shot past him, hitting him before he could guard himself again. She then landed on a glyph behind him, turning and leaping back at him again, accelerated by her glyph and hitting him as she went. Over and over, she jumped from glyph to glyph, striking her partner repeatedly.

Tom watched as Lach's considerable Aura was slowly depleted. Eventually it reached past the green and flashed yellow on his scroll and Lach decided that he had seen enough.

'Alright,' he shouted. 'He's in the yellow, that's good enough.'

It took a moment for Adelheid to stop, leaping from her last glyph and landing gracefully on the ground, her blade held in front of her in a strike position. She was breathing a little more heavily and a few strands of hair were out of place but she otherwise looked perfect.

Lach, on the other hand, tried to get his bearings again. He shook his head in confusion and blinked several times as he tried to recover from the beatings he had received from his partner.

'What the hell was that?' he said in surprise and amazement.

'A little something I've been perfecting,' Adelheid replied smugly, tidying her hair as she did so. 'It's one of the Schnee family's most effective techniques and I must say it was far more effective than I thought it would be.'

Well I guess I know what to look out next time,' Lach said with a smirk. He still had his sword out but his tone and expression seemed to be friendly, even competitive.

'Uh,' Tom said, interjecting between them, 'I don't think were really supposed to be figuring out how to beat each other. I thought the purpose of this was to see how good we are.'

'He's right,' Elizabeth suddenly said. 'Most of our fights will be team matches or pairs so we won't need to beat each other up.' She then strutted forward, her an excited grin on her face. 'Now combination attacks, that what we can start figuring out with these fights. Now,' she then turned to Tom and fixed him with a leer, 'I think it's our turn. Let's get your measure.'

Tom swallowed nervously as he watched his partner strut over to where Adelheid had taken position, White Shear in both her hands and her hips swinging like she was trying to get everyone's attention. Sighing nervously, he drew Lumen and turned to Lach.

'You're keeping an eye on our Aura okay,' he said.

'Sure,' Lach replied, taking out his scroll and opening up a window similar to the one Tom had. Satisfied that is friend was watching them Tom shut his own scroll and pocketed it.

He walked over to the spot Lach had stood in before his own match and eyed Elizabeth. She had slung her axe off of her shoulders and was now holding it in front of her. Her legs were spread, her feet planted firmly in the ground and her body was low as if she were about to pounce on something. She had the same bloodthirsty leer on her face and Tom could feel her eyeing him up as if he were a slab of meat for cutting. It was times like this that he really worried about being partnered with her.

'Alright then,' Lach said. 'If yer all ready?' Elizabeth grinned as he spoke and thumbed the activation button for her chain axe. 'Begin.'

Tom had barely any time to react as Elizabeth threw herself towards him with a warcry, White Shear switching on and roaring as the chain of teeth rotated violently. Tom let out a squawk of fear and ducked as Elizabeth brought her axe round in a horizontal swing that just missed his head. Tom fell over backwards, unbalanced by his hasty and uncoordinated move and lay on the floor for a moment, stunned.

Not wasting time Elizabeth pulled back on her heavy weapon, grunting with exertion as she brought it round, up over her head and then swung down. Tom rolled to his left, the axe missing him and embedding in the ground. A disturbing grinding noise sounded as the teeth of the axe churned up dirt and grass.

With another grunt Elizabeth ripped the axe out of the ground but Tom was already back on his feet. He ran from her, keeping Lumen tight in his grip as he tried to get some distance between himself and his partner.

'Oh, come on!' Elizabeth snapped. 'Are we really going to be doing this?'

Tom stopped and turned to look at her. He saw she had wasted no time in realigning herself and charging at him. She kept her axe low, close to her body as she ran across the clearing towards him. She then extended it to her left and pulled it back, preparing another swing.

Just as she closed in on him Tom activated his semblance. In an eyeblink he disappeared before her eyes. Her momentum already built up, Elizabeth still swung her axe but she felt no impact and when she looked around she saw her target was gone.

Tom had figured out his semblance a long time ago. He learnt that his soul possessed the ability to bend light around his body. It only seemed to work with anything that was either a part of himself or worn or carried by him. He had used it to great effect before in combat exercises but it was exhausting for prolonged periods and had no use in offensive or defensive capabilities. It was a stealth technique, a way of hiding and he had rarely been able to utilise it effectively outside of a few tired and predictable strategies.

Still, this was one of the occasions where it could work. The moment he had turned himself invisible he had ran to the left and dodged the blow Elizabeth had been about to make. He was now standing to her right and wondering the best way to attack her.

'Where are you!?' his partner shouted, swinging her axe in frustration again.

'Uh, well he's still 'ere accordin' to the scroll,' Lach said, a look of concern on his face.

"Thanks," Tom thought sardonically. For a second he had been worried that Lach was also about to give away his position.

Now ready and unwilling to give Elizabeth more time to adapt he softly strode up to her. The closer he got the more speed he picked up. He raised Lumen in a strike position and then ran forward. He raised Lumen high in both hands as quickly as he could and brought it down on Elizabeth's head.

His partner let out a squawk as the invisible blade hammered on her skull. Despite the heavy blow, however, she was able to clumsily swing her chain-axe around her, almost hitting him. Tom threw himself to the ground, glad the roaring of the axe's chain drowned out the sound of him thudding into the grass. He immediately lashed out at Elizabeth's feet, catching her and tripping her up.

Elizabeth floundered on the ground as she tried to get back up. Her head was still a little fuzzy from the hit it had taken and her axe had landed on her chest, winding her. Tom leapt back on to his feet and raised Lumen over his head again and then brought it down on her torso. Unfortunately, as he prepared for another strike he felt himself getting tired as well. His semblance was difficult to maintain and he realised he was draining his own Aura the longer he used it.

With no other real option available he deactivated his semblance. Elizabeth had largely regained her bearings and Tom saw her eyes narrow in anger as he materialised before her.

'Oh that is it!' she shouted and she raised her axe over her. Tom pulled back to avoid her swing, knowing that from the angle she was holding it she wouldn't be able to hit him.

Instead of swinging it at him, however, she raised it high over her and then brought the butt down on the ground hard. Just as she hammered the bottom of her chain-axe's haft on the grass her body and weapon both glowed with a fiery red light. Then, the moment the weapon touched the ground the light flooded out into the area around her. Tom felt something like an explosion as a wave of force struck him, lifted him off his feet and then sent him flying. He was dazed by the sudden assault and struggled to get up.

He got back on his feet and shook his head to try to clear his blurry vision. The moment he did he saw Elizabeth thundering towards him, her axe held high. This time, however, she was quicker. She brought the butt of her axe forward first, beating him in the ribs with it and winding him. Tom doubled over from the force of the blow and was just able to see the next swing of the axe coming before the head struck him in the shoulder, forcing him to the floor again.

'And that's yellow,' Lach suddenly said. 'Break it up.'

Tom shook his head again, dazed by the final few blows, and tried to catch his breath again. He looked up to see Elizabeth was also breathing hard and was holding her axe loosely in her grip, the chain mercifully shut off.

'Ya know I wasn't really sure what to expect but that was a little,' Lach paused as he tried to find a word to describe the fight, 'savage. Ya both have to be careful ya know. We don't want to start a real fight.'

Lach walked up to Tom and extended a hand. Tom grabbed it and was helped back up to his feet by the taller boy.

'Alright,' Tom said as he straightened himself up and tried to brush grass and dirt off of his clothes. 'How'd I do?'

'Sloppily,' Adelheid said before Lach could open his mouth to answer. 'Both of you showed no tact and little actual skill. You, Elizabeth,' Adalhaid turned to look at Tom's partner, 'used nothing but brute force. You clearly let your opponent outsmart and outmanoeuvre you.'

'I don't need to hear that from you,' Elizabeth quickly snapped at the Schnee girl. 'You didn't make a brilliant start and the moment it didn't look like Lach was going to bend over and take your swords up his ass you go for a finishing blow.' She strode over to Adelheid and poked the increasingly irate girl in the chest.

'It took your flashy family move just to get Lach down to his yellow,' she said with finality. 'How useful are you going to be in an actual fight if you have to waste all that time and energy so quickly? Also, if I remember correctly, finishing moves only work if you're finishing your opponent off. Does Lach look like he's been beaten?' She emphasised her point by pointing at the boy.

'At least I kept better control of myself,' Adelheid shot back, swatting the other girl's hand away. 'I didn't just swing my weapon around and get angry if I didn't hit anyone. All you did was try to batter Tom to death and throw a tantrum when he got out of the way. You acted like a child.'

Adelheid then rounded on Tom before Elizabeth could reply, ignoring the scowl that the other girl gave her. 'Getting back on track,' she said in a calmer but still very frustrated tone. 'You, Tom, made a fool of yourself. You repeatedly ran, lost control of the fight and got thrown around by your opponent. I wasn't sure what to expect from either of you but it's clear we have a lot of improvements to make.'

Tom was taken aback by Adelheid's sudden and brutally honest review of his fight. A part of him felt insulted by what she had done. He was supposed to be in charge and yet she had just chewed him and his partner out. Squashing his annoyance he tried to get everything back under control again. She was right, he hadn't been in control until he had activated his semblance and resorted to cheap shots.

'Fair enough,' he said. 'I think we can all agree to a training schedule after this right?' he looked around the group. Lach and Adelheid gave compliant nods though Adelheid frowned at him as she did so. Elizabeth sighed in frustration and then mumbled what sounded like an affirmative.

'Great,' Tom said after he got confirmation of their agreement. 'I think we're done here for today. If we start working something out now though we can prepare for combat class next week.'

The group left the clearing shortly afterwards, heading back to the campus to rest. Tom felt concerned as he studied the rest of his group. Though Lach chatted with him as they walked back to their dorm room Tom didn't pay much attention. Most of his mind was focused on the fight, what he had done and what it meant now that he was going to start taking combat classes in Beacon.

He had never been much of an actual fighter, passing his written exams with high marks and barely scraping through his practical tests. Now, having fought his partner, a girl who had made it in with far greater physical abilities, he knew he had to work harder than he ever had before. His hand went to his uncle's ring and held it close, he hoped it was as lucky as his uncle had said it was. He would need it.


	7. Chapter Seven: Taking Class Part One

**Chapter Seven: Taking Class Part One:**

 **September 12** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

Greta felt both excited and nervous as she and the rest of Team GRAP filed into class that day. It was the Tuesday of their second week in Beacon and their combat classes, supposedly the most difficult and important class in the curriculum, had finally started.

Like everything else in Beacon the combat training stadium was state of the art and as much an artistic expression as it was a practical facility though compared to some classrooms it was rather subdued. The room was circular, the usual layout of tiered desks now placed in a ring that was broken by four aisles, one on each major point of the compass, and surrounded a large raised platform. Overhead holographic projectors displayed a stat screen that - at the moment - was blank, waiting for some kind of data input.

All the students that walked in were dressed in the more casual clothes that they had designated as their hunting outfits. Greta herself had donned her favourite dress, wearing it over the trousers and t-shirt she enjoyed and felt far more comfortable than in any of her other classes because of it.

Professor Smith stood on the platform, adjusting his bow tie and scanning his open scroll. Aside from that he was standing perfectly in place, dressed in the tweed suits that every student saw him characteristically wear. On his face was an expression of anticipation that Greta had never seen him make before.

She went down to one of the seats on the lower tiers, her team following after her. She saw Team TEAL sit down on the seats next to them. The two teams had eaten breakfast together, a habit that had quickly become almost ritualistic for the two of them. Tom and Lach waved at her and she responded. Lach had an excited expression on his face, a wide smile threatening to split his face. Greta had seen Elizabeth give a similar look and even Adelheid, whilst trying to keep up her familiar detached expression had strode to class faster than usual.

Her own team weren't that different. Peter had grabbed his weapons more quickly than the others on their way to class, strapping them to his overcoat with an excited air around himself. Rapture and Aurora, on the way to the classroom, had also been exchanging their own thoughts on what the class would be like. It was honestly relaxing to see her friends and team-mates getting on.

Despite Professor Smith being in the room there was a lot of murmuring. All of the students had been waiting for the chance to try out their techniques on one another and see who was in fact the best fighter in the class.

'Alright class, quiet down,' Professor Smith said, his voice carrying over the noise of the excited students.

It took several seconds but everyone stopped talking. The deputy headmaster was still a surprisingly intimidating figure, exuding an aura of authority that few seemed to question despite his rather elderly appearance. Greta paid full attention to him, watching as he straightened himself out, adjusted his cravat again and then looked over the students sitting in front of him.

'Right,' he began again. 'Today is going to be your first day of combat classes. Now you've all been through some form of prior training, many of you were likely students at Signal and know your way around something similar to our particular training regimens.' He then paused and looked back around the room again.

'Some of you, however,' he said, 'have likely had private tutors or were self-trained so I'm going to go over the rules now.' A couple of students groaned quietly in response. This wasn't the first teacher who had begun their class by repeating what most of the students already knew.

'I'll be calling you up to this stage in pairs that I will choose," Professor Smith began, his voice developing a more professional tone. 'Your Aura will be linked to both your scrolls and the screen above me while I, and the class, will be monitoring your skills. Over the course of this year we will also be assessing your progress as a combatant. As future Huntsmen and Huntresses your ability to fight will be one of your most important abilities and may decide not only your future career but also whether you live or die.'

Greta was taken aback by what the professor had said. While she knew full well that what he was saying was true and had come to those conclusions years ago the way he said it made the words sound so much more ominous. His expression had also become more bitter, like he hated saying the words that were coming from his mouth.

'So,' the professor began again, 'I'll be calling up the first pairs. I would like you all to link your scrolls to this room's server first so we can monitor your Aura levels.' the entire class pulled out their scrolls, opened them and selected the link that was now flashing on their screens. It took only a second for them all to make the link and connect to a larger database.

'Now would Ernie Custodi and Peter Hamlin please walk onto the stage.' The moment professor Smith had finished speaking Greta turned to her partner and saw him standing up, a confident smirk on his face.

Several rows away a massive burly faunus boy stood up. He was huge, taller even than Rapture and substantially thicker as well. Whilst he was wide he wasn't fat, having thick muscular arms and a powerful looking torso. On the boy's head were two large curling ram's horns that curled around his ears, covering the sides of his head in thick bone. He was dressed in black trousers with a plain brown t-shirt covering his chest and a sleeveless leather jacket on top of that.

As Ernie stood he flexed his neck, an audible crack of his bones limbering echoed around the room, unnerving several students. He then reached down next to his seat and picked up a large warhammer. The weapon had several visible mecha-shift components that made it apparent it had another form. The face of the warhammer also had several seams indicating that whatever function the hammer possessed likely involved firing projectiles.

The two of them walked down, Peter still having a smile on his face while Ernie seemed to wear a more blank expression. Greta wondered if anything was really going on in the faunus' head since he didn't seem to do anything other than lumber onto the platform and then lean on his hammer, staring ahead at Peter who put his left hand on his hip and smirked at his opponent.

'You will both fight until I tell you to stop,' Professor Smith began again. 'Once you're finished I will call up another pair. The first few classes will continue like this until the entire class has had at least one bout. Then we will begin marking your progress in future classes. I don't expect immediate improvement but your grades will be dependent on the skills you display and any noticeable changes in your abilities over the course of the semester.' He then turned to look around the room. 'Are there any questions?' he asked.

He was answered with shaking heads and quiet denials as the class waited to see the first fight of the semester. 'Alright then,' Professor Smith continued, turning back to Peter and Ernie. 'Both of you will fight until you reach the red of your Aura or step off of the stage. If, however, I tell you to stop you will stop.' He fixed both boys with a withering glare and they nodded.

'Very good,' the professor then continued. 'You begin on my mark.' Peter and Ernie, both took a pose of readiness, Ernie crouching low and keeping his hammer raised in his right hand. Peter, on he other hand, was standing tall and straight with his arms spread at the elbow. He even gave a small bow with his head and shoulders to the faunus boy.

'This is gonna be good,' Greta heard Lach mumble excitedly. She was interested in seeing what would happen when the two fought. She had seen Peter practice and his technique was difficult to follow properly. She didn't, however, know much about Ernie Custodi. Team BAGE weren't anywhere near her team's social circle and hadn't done anything to make themselves that noteworthy.

'Begin,' Professor Smith said as he stepped off of the stage and turned to watch them.

Both combatants took a step forward and then froze. Both of them remained in ready positions, leaning forward and crouching slightly. They then each took a step to the side and began to circle one another, Ernie clutching his hammer tightly and Peter twitching his fingers as he spread his arms out, ready to react. Greta could tell they were sizing each other up, waiting to see who would make the first move.

The atmosphere remained tense though Greta could tell a couple of people were already getting bored. It had only been a few seconds but the sight of both students slowly making a circuit of the stage wasn't particularly interesting for some people. Others were at least perceptive enough to realise both combatants were merely analysing one another or had noticed the professor was paying attention and decided it was better for their grades that they do the same.

Suddenly Ernie broke from his steady rightward pacing and leapt to his left, hammer raised, towards Peter. The faunus boy let out a loud warcry as he brought the hammer over his head and then around in a diagonal arc. Peter took just enough to sneer at his opponent before activating his semblance. In a flash of light he was across the stage. He twisted as he re-materialised and thrust his right arm out.

One of his stakes rocketed out of his sleeve, the thrusters embedded inside the weapon forcing it at the faunus across from Peter. Attached to the end of the stake was a thin golden chain that led back into Peter's coat sleeve. Ernie quickly stepped aside, the stake going past him. Peter smirked and immediately pulled on the chain. The stake jerked back, looped slightly as the taught chain lurched and hit Ernie in the back of his head, butt-first. The chain rapidly wound back into Peter's sleeve, pulling the stake with it an back into his hand.

Ernie, meanwhile, stumbled forward from the blow to the base of his skull and wobbled. He kept a hold of his hammer though and steadied himself, glaring at Peter with almost animalistic fury. Peter flashed the stake out of his hand, using his semblance to replace it with one of his sword hilts. Another appeared in his left hand and then he deployed them, mecha-shift parts unfolding as the blade components curled out and slid into place. Peter took another stance, standing straight with his arms spread and both blades sticking out to his sides.

Ernie charged at Peter, his eyes narrowed in anger and concentration. Fury leant the faunus speed and he closed the distance quickly, spinning on his heel as he approached Peter. The hammer swung in a wide arc as Ernie span and then, just as it was about to strike he fired a shot, a large explosion of dust rocketing out of the face of the hammer head.

Peter flashed out of the way of the strike, reappearing an instant later behind Ernie. He was already spinning on his heel, his blades held in a position to strike. He hit Ernie on the back of his head, first with his left-hand blade and then his right-hand one as he completed his spin. Overbalanced, Ernie tipped forward and then began to topple over. Kicking off into another spin, Peter raised his left leg and then delivered a swift kick to Ernie's back, sending him over the edge of the stage and onto the floor of the classroom below.

'And that's enough,' the voice of Professor Smith cut through the room. 'Ernie Custodi you are disqualified due to exiting the stage. Mister Hamlin,' he then said, turning to Peter, 'that was a skillful display of manipulation and utilising the rules of engagement to your advantage.'

'I try sir,' Peter said in a smug, self-satisfied tone as he bowed to the teacher, his blades once again held out to his sides. He then refolded the swords and teleported them back into his coat.

'Mister Custodi,' Professor Smith then said, turning to look at the furious faunus boy who was lifting himself off of the floor. 'You need to improve your awareness. You let your opponent goad you into overextending yourself. You showed initiative in the initial stages and a healthy respect for analysis of you opponents but you lost control once the fight itself began.' His assessment of the boy complete, he let them both return to their seats.

Greta saw Ernie was frowning in annoyance and restrained anger, grumbling under his breath as he sat back down with his team. Peter, on the other hand, took his seat next to her, his smug expression still fixed to his face. He turned to look at her and smiled, nodding slightly. Unsure what exactly he meant, she nodded back to him.

'Good job,' she said.

'Thanks Greta,' Peter replied. 'Glad I'm doing our team proud.'

* * *

The next pair – a girl in green with a double-barrelled rifle and another girl in red holding a mecha-shift enhanced broadsword in front of her – walked up onto the stage. They took their stances and then, when Professor Smith gave the signal, leapt at one another.

Adelheid Schnee was not impressed by the combatants she was seeing in front of her. She had spent so much time assessing her classmates and speculating on their potential skill but the realities she was seeing unfold in front of her did not inspire much in her. Peter Hamlin had, of course, conducted himself with skill and no small amount of grace but his opponent had clearly not been as much of a challenge as his first impression would have indicated. He was a brute who had been goaded into exposing himself far too quickly – not unlike a certain team-mate she could name.

Despite her growing discontent at watching her classmates' abilities Adelheid intently analysed the combatants. The green girl was keeping as much distance as she could between herself and her opponent, using the force of her rifles Dust-rounds to blow the red girl away from her. The red girl, on the other hand, was far less impressive and seemed to have no counter-ability for the green girl's ranged attacks. Adelheid knew the red girl's sword was a mecha-shift weapon but she still didn't know what the sword could do.

Despite forcing herself to keep an eye on the fight her mind still wandered to her existing assessments of her team. Lach and Elizabeth, despite their infuriating personalities, were effective fighters and proficient with their weapons. Elizabeth was far too temperamental for her own good but she had the power to back up her aggressive fighting style. Lach, surprisingly, seemed to display a more complex style and knew how to use a blade. As a swordswoman herself, Adelheid appreciated his dedication to that particular martial art and did applaud the skills he had developed. He was still unbearable to be around though and after having undergone so many elocution lessons she found the way his dialect butchered the standard tongue to be incredibly grating.

Tom was the weak link though. Judging by his performance over the weekend she could tell he wasn't much of a combatant. She had also not seen much evidence of his combat abilities during Initiation. Granted she had been rather occupied at the time but she had little recollection of his contributions to the actual fight, at least beyond his strategies.

As Adelheid continued to assess her team-mates in her head the balance of the fight in front of her was beginning to change. The red girl finally revealed her sword's secondary feature. With the press of a large button and a flick of the girl's wrist the blade extended out, revealing interlinking chains between several separated segments of the original blade. With the way the red girl began to swing her new chain-blade around I was hard to tell how much reach the weapon really had but Adelheid guessed it was now a little over two metres long.

The fight became a lot less one-sided as the red girl began to flick her extended weapon out at her opponent. One moment the green girl had been lining up a shot and then a second later she found her rifle had been wrapped up in the chain and she had to struggle to keep a hold of her weapon.

Even as she watched the fight with renewed interest Adelheid kept thinking about her team. By her own assessment Thomas Underhill was a disappointment. He was supposed to be their team leader – a position she still believed was a mistake on the headmaster's part – and yet he struggled to actually lead them. He was good enough at organising them and setting up team related schedules but he seemed to stumble whenever it came to giving actual orders. A team leader also represented their team and if he failed to improve his combat abilities he would end up making the rest of them look bad.

Shortly before she had shipped her off to Beacon, Adelheid's mother had given her a few pieces of advice. Most of it had pertained to her safety whilst she was out of the country and managing her personal finances. It was simply a repetition of what her tutors had told her many times before. The only thing that was different from her tutor's lessons was when her mother had told her to be careful about judging people too quickly. Adelheid liked to think she had taken her mother's words to heart – after all, despite a poor first meeting, she had given time for her team-mates to prove themselves.

Of course she had realised that her own first impressions with others hadn't been that good. Aside from Peter, who she already knew about thanks to his family name, she had been rather short-tempered and snippy with most of the other students she had met. Mind you that hadn't entirely been her fault. She had still been getting over being shipped halfway across the world by her parents and had been in a rather poor mood because of it. Once again her mother and father had ignored her protests and forced her into the position they wanted her to be in. This time they had given different justifications, dropping the usual explanation that it was for the good of the family and instead saying that it was for her own good. Her mother had been especially insistent on that part.

The combat on the stage finally came to an end when the green girl brought her opponent into the red zone of her Aura with several well placed shots. The red girl looked annoyed but retracted her chain-blade and walked off of the stage as Professor Smith gave his assessments of their skill and technique. Adelheid wasn't paying that much attention to what the teacher was saying. Despite her better judgement she was trying to make her own assessments of her classmates so she could form counter-strategies at the same time.

Her mind, however, kept returning to her team-mates. They were integral to her performance in school and their performance reflected on her. She may not have been granted the leadership position but she swore to all the gods that she would make sure her team shaped up to be the very best in the school. She had already begun to plan out a schedule for them that would allow them to maximise their time effectively and cram in all the training and studying they would need to achieve the lofty position she desired. Of course she had been forced to adjust it to accommodate the issues her team-mates possessed but she was confident she could convince them to follow her plan. After all, she could do anything when she set her mind to it.

'Will the next pair, Thomas Underhill and Arthur Raconteur please come onto the stage,' the voice of Professor Arc said, finally jolting Adelheid from her introspection.

'Looks like you're up Tom,' Lach said with a hint of amusement in his voice. 'Do us proud.'

'I'll do my best,' Adelheid heard Tom answer, sounding slightly nervous as he stood up and got out of their row of seats.

'Break a leg,' Elizabeth said to him, a gleeful tone in her voice and a grin on her face as she watched her partner get on the stage.

Adelheid paid more attention when she saw his opponent take his own place on the opposite side of the stage. Arthur Raconteur was another member of team BAGE and what little she knew about the man said he was the talkative sort. Looking at him properly, though, she made several assessments of her own about the man.

In her opinion, he looked ridiculous. Even by the standards of Huntsmen and Huntresses he was dressed in a very flamboyant fashion with bright red trousers and a white dress-shirt that had a couple of buttons undone at the top. He wore black leather riding boots over his feet and a large red travelling coat on top of everything else. Unlike his team-mates he was not a faunus but a human with features that looked like they were starting to wear slightly and a shock of unkempt blond hair.

It was his weapon, however, that was the most ridiculous part of his ensemble. It looked like an acoustic guitar but was made largely of metal, had been painted red with a gold trim and had a trigger mechanism in the main body. An ammunition stock, muzzle and several handle grips could also be seen attached to the bizarre contraption. Adelheid wasn't even sure how such a weapon could possibly function. Assuming the guitar portion actually functioned as a musical instrument it left large areas of the weapon hollow to accommodate the acoustics, had no use as a melee weapon unless it was simply used to club people and looked too unwieldy to aim in any way other than at the hip.

Even when compared to her more flamboyant team-mates and acquaintances he was the most bizarre person she had ever seen. His looks aside he was clearly going to be one of the easier opponents. Adelheid was sure he was the type of fighter that needed support and, if his outrageous weapon was anything to go by, would be easier to face alone.

Tom took his place on one end of the stage and drew his short-sword. He didn't waste any time, thankfully, and slotted a small Dust cartridge into the chamber on his weapon's hilt and then settled into a wary stance. Though she didn't show it, Adelheid approved of him holding back from immediately firing off his Dust. Whilst she didn't hurt for Dust her team-mates didn't have access to the kinds of resources she did. The ability to conserve was definitely a virtue in their cases.

'Begin,' Professor Smith said as both combatant's profiles flashed onto the screen.

In an instant Arthur pulled his guitar up to his chest and squeezed the trigger. A hail of light Dust rounds shot out of the muzzle at the end of the guitar-gun and hit Tom. By some miracle Tom managed to throw himself to the side as he was hit, avoiding getting knocked off of the stage. His Aura had taken several bad hits though and he was lying prone on the ground. Before Arthur could adjust his aim to hit his downed opponent Tom disappeared from view.

Adelheid frowned at her leader's decision. He had already given away his semblance to an opponent. The fact that he was forced to resort to his invisibility when the match had barely started was also a poor sign of his ability. His semblance was no an aid in combat, it was a tool to facilitate sneak-attacks and he couldn't afford to activate whenever it looked like his opponents had the advantage.

Arthur was looking about calmly as if expecting Tom to just appear in an instant. He held his guitar-gun close and ready, his finger on the trigger. Suddenly he was thrown to the side as he was hit by an invisible blow. The strike was followed by several arcs of electricity that shocked Arthur as he fell, taking a chunk out of his Aura. It seemed Tom's weapon remained invisible even when it was channelling Dust. Arthur tried to aim his weapon at where the blow had come from but his body had trouble responding due to the shocks he had received. He kicked out instead and it seemed his foot connected with something as Tom reappeared, falling to the floor as on of his legs gave out.

Arthur, still lying on the floor, turned his guitar-gun on Tom with a scowl and fired again. Tom's Aura dropped steadily as round after round struck him savagely. Flailing slightly, Tom hit the stag with the flat of his blade and managed to fire off another round of lightning at Arthur as he was trying to stand back up whilst maintaining his rate of fire. The other boy fell back to the ground as he received another shock but he controlled his fall and managed to land in a better position. Tom jumped back onto his feet and disappeared again just as Arthur regained control of his senses and aimed his weapon at him.

Arthur looked very frustrated now. He held his guitar-gun at his hip and then span on his heel, firing as he did so. A spray of bullets flew in a circle around the boy, ricocheting off of the shields placed in front of the seats and causing a few students to flinch. His tactic was a desperate one but it worked as Tom appeared again, thrown off balance by several of the shots. Coming to a halt, Arthur opened fire again, hammering Tom with Dust-rounds and chipping his Aura down into the lower yellow portion of the meter. He then ran forward as Tom tried to ward off the shots, ceased firing and swung his guitar-gun. His weapon, smacked Tom in the side of his head and sent him sprawling on his side.

'That's enough,' Professor Smith quickly said. 'Mister Raconteur is the victor.'

Tom picked himself up but he was a lot more unsteady on his feet. Arthur, on the other hand, walked off of the stage after hearing the professor's assessment of his abilities and then went over to his seat, his team-mates congratulating him.

'It's alright,' she suddenly heard Lach say. 'Ya can't win them all.'

Tom had returned to his seat, giving a small smile to Lach in response. Elizabeth was not looking his way, instead watching the rest of the class with a bored expression, her chin resting on her hands.

Adelheid was now deeply annoyed. She had been disappointed in her leader's capacities as a fighter before but now she was infuriated. His fight with Arthur Raconteur should have been an easy win and yet Tom had been so easily beaten by the flamboyant idiot. She didn't say anything to him when he looked at her expectantly, only letting a thin frown show her displeasure at his loss and then turning to look at the next pair as they were called up.

Her mother had told her not to judge people too quickly and she was prepared to give her new team-mates a chance. It wouldn't really be advantageous to immediately write them off as incompetent or incapable but there were limits to how long she could wait to see them either prove her assumptions wrong or improve by themselves. Sooner or later she would have to take matters into her own hands and in Tom's case she was sure it would be sooner.

* * *

 **September 13** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

If there was a day that Greta did not relish it was Wednesdays. As the middle of the working week the day stood out as a frustrating midway point that seemed to dangle the weekend in front of her like a carrot on the end of stick. Even though it was still her first full week of classes in Beacon she couldn't wait for the weekend and the chance to finally unwind after all the work.

Combat classes yesterday had revealed something very important to her; her team-mates all had very different fighting styles. Whilst that was useful strategically when it came to combat situations she had quickly realised that coordinated training was going to be almost impossible. Rapture's hand-to-hand brawling didn't match Peter's rapid multi-weapon swordplay and Aurora's ranged focused sniping wasn't something she could really work alongside with her own close-ranged fire-fighting. In short; they all needed different parts of the training facility to workout in.

Whilst none of them had any problem going to their own sections of the training grounds to improve their skills Great was a little annoyed that they couldn't properly coordinate their progress with one another. The only time they could all get together and evaluate each other's abilities was during the unarmed basic exercises and obstacle courses.

That was why she had said that Wednesday's open sessions would be devoted to organising their training regimens. It had been surprisingly difficult to convince the rest of the team to actually agree to working this problem out. It seemed they were content with sticking to their own personal routines and had looked sceptical at the idea of giving up the routines they had already decided on and coordinating in the way she was suggesting. Greta had been especially surprised that Peter had been resistant to giving up his own personal schedule and the slight frown that appeared on his face every now and then – indicating his dissatisfaction with her decision – did unsettle her.

'Okay,' she said, clapping her hands together and putting a slightly strained smile on her face. 'We're all here to deal with a problem I've noticed.' Ignoring the sceptical and uncommitted looks everyone immediately gave her, she continued on with the speech she had been planning. 'I can see we've all trained hard but I've not really been able to get a good look at how good you really are.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Aurora said, giving Greta a pointed look.

'Um, I mean,' Greta floundered as she tried to figure out how to word her thoughts. 'I mean I haven't been able to, um, uh, analyse you. I need to be able to get a good look at how you can fight and then I can figure out how we can work as a team.'

Her team-mates relaxed after she was done stuttering out her reply. Greta hoped that her explanation had pleased them and the fact that the frowns had shrunk down into more thoughtful expressions helped settle her own thoughts and concerns down again.

'Alright then,' Peter said, his usual relaxed look back on his face. 'What would you like to do?'

'Oh,' Greta perked up again. 'I have this whole plan set up to work our schedules out. We'll all set out practise sessions but whenever one of us is training the rest of us will watch them to see how they're doing and try to make plans on how to best use our skills.'

'That's going to make keeping our regimens difficult,' Rapture said, still looking sceptical of the idea.

'Well I was hoping that after we do this for a couple of weeks we can figure out a way to train together,' Greta replied sheepishly. 'I mean, I know its hard for us all to do the same routine but if we figure out how we all fight then we could come up with something. Right?' She looked at her team-mates who were once again thinking things over. They glanced at one another a couple of times, gauging what the others were considering.

'Alright then,' Peter said with a hint of sigh. 'I'll agree to it.'

Greta's face lit up as Aurora and Rapture gave in and agreed to follow her new idea as well. With any luck she would be able to make this new training evaluation exercise work. Now all she had to do was work out a schedule for everyone. The sooner she got that sorted out the sooner she could relax and let run itself.

'Right, so I want to get his worked out soon,' she said. 'If we figure this out now we can all work out our new training scheme.'

'I'll go first,' Aurora immediately said, beating Peter who had opened his mouth to likely say the same.

'Great,' Greta said, adding Aurora's name to the mental map she was already working out. 'Peter will be next and Rapture after that. I'll go last. Is that alright?'

Her team-mates slowly nodded and mumbled their agreement with her proposal. Despite the initial setback Greta was proud of herself. Her new plan to organise the team and set up a schedule to ease things along was going perfectly. The sooner she worked everything out in the beginning the less she would have to do later on. Watching her team-mates train would also save her having to run around and chase them up if she wanted to figure out a team exercise.

* * *

Though there wasn't a formal schedule worked out yet Greta had agreed to let Aurora train during the afternoon open session like they had all originally planned to. They had all walked into the training rooms and picked one of the firing ranges to watch Aurora practise.

Greta was currently sitting in one of the aisles to the side of the firing ranges, Peter and Rapture by her side. Rapture had her scroll out and was browsing something whilst Peter was watching other students who were firing at the targets on the other side of the room. Aurora had taken out her sniper-rifle, Dark Majesty, and was lining up to take a shot at the Grimm-shaped target in front of her. It took barely a second for her to finish aiming and fire, hitting the target close to the centre of its chest.

'Good start,' Rapture said, having shut her scroll and sat back to observe her partner.

'She certainly doesn't lack skills as a sniper,' Peter said offhandedly as he leaned back in his seat.

'Yeah but I remember her not doing that well with the pole-arm during Initiation,' Rapture continued, still watching Aurora as she efficiently took shots at the vulnerable areas on the Grimm target.

'Well we'll see if she does any close-combat training and see how she does,' Greta said to placate the group. She was doing her best to watch her team-mate and was surprised at how easy she made hitting the target. The dark-skinned girl was barely putting any visible effort into repeatedly hitting the vulnerable portions of the Grimm simulacrum.

Aurora eventually stopped when her ammunition was depleted. With a fluid motion she released the spent clip, picked up another one, slotted it into place and primed her weapon again. She didn't, however, take her old position on the firing range. Instead she walked away from the range and towards the combat rings, taking a moment to indicate that she was moving on to another part of the training ground.

'That's our que,' Rapture said as she lifted herself out of her seat.

The three of them moved to the seats that looked over the rings and found another place to sit down as Aurora walked into a ring. This portion of the training ground featured holographic projectors, recent additions to the academy's facilities that had been imported from Atlas. The projectors could simulate a range of opponents, both human and Grimm that those using the facilities could interact with and fight. Whilst the installation and maintenance costs could be expensive it was a cheaper alternative to old fashioned targets and robotic dummies. The rings were also surrounded by reinforced glass borders that prevented ranged weapons from hitting anything outside of the ring's boundaries.

They all watched as Aurora stepped into the ring and switched Dark Majesty into its glaive form, spinning it over her head as she did so and then bringing the blade out in front of her. Like so many other students she preferred to indulge in a little showmanship that had probably become almost ritualistic to her. Once her weapon had completed its transformation she pulled it back and placed the butt down on the ground, holding it upright as a holographic menu appeared in front of her.

'I wonder what she's going to pick,' Peter said absently as he watched Aurora flick through a scrolling menu of icons.

'Probably something low tier,' Rapture answered.

A second later Aurora stepped back from her previous position, the holographic menu disappearing as other projectors were raised into place and activated. A second later a perfect digital replica of an Ursa appeared on the other end of the ring.

Greta raised an eyebrow at Rapture's prediction coming true. There was only a single Ursa standing across from Aurora and it wasn't a particularly mature example either. Was she going to just start off with one and work her way up to more difficult opponents or was this going to be it?

Aurora lowered her glaive again as the simulated Ursa roared at her and then barrelled forward. She span it one more time, the bladed end of the weapon facing outwards in its arc and brought it down on the Grimm's head as it ran at her. The blow connected, the unique properties of the ring's projectors giving the Grimm a form of false mass. Aurora jumped back after her initial strike, steadied her weapon and thrust forward at the Grimm's forehead. The glaive cut into the Ursa's head in a single clean strike and the simulation ended as the fake Grimm expired.

'Not bad,' Peter commented offhandedly. 'She seems to know how to use that.'

The projectors shut off and the menu reappeared in front of Aurora who made several selections, scrolling back and forth through the holographic image as she made her choices. It took only several seconds for the primary projectors to reactivate as Aurora took position again.

This time a pack of Beowolves appeared, roaring as Aurora adjusted her stance again. The simulated Grimm then leapt at Aurora who span on the spot and lashed out with her glaive. One of the Beowolves was slashed in two by the heavy blade but the others evaded and clawed at her. Greta winced as Aurora was clipped by one of the Grimm and sent off balance. The dark-skinned girl was able to right herself again but she was clearly still struggling, swinging Dark Majesty at anything that came close. It took her several seconds to get her balance back and she was still uninjured but her Aura had been reduced a little and her opponents were still largely unharmed.

'Well we can certainly see where she has problems,' Peter commented as he watched.

'I think I saw the same thing when I first met her,' Rapture then said. 'Numbers don't seem to be her strong point.'

'Especially when they're up close,' Peter continued for her. His tone showed an almost clinical detachment as he seemed to study his team-mate.

Greta wasn't paying that much attention to the conversation that was going on beside her. Instead she was trying to analyse Aurora's movements. A small part of her was also a bit concerned. Solid-light holograms were supposed to be safe but they packed as much of a punch as the real-life creatures they simulated and were unpleasant to be attacked by.

Aurora eventually managed to slay the Grimm simulations, slicing open throats and dismembering limbs with a precise grace but her Aura had taken some damage. Her exercise finished she took a more relaxed pose. Several locks of her hair had come loose from her head-dress and she was currently putting them back into place, ignoring the menu which had returned when the primary projectors had shut off. Once she was done she pushed another symbol on the menu and strutted off of the ring as the projectors folded back into the stage.

'Looks like she's done,' Greta said, lifting herself out of her seat.

All three of them got up and walked down out of the spectator seats and down to the periphery of the training ground. They found Aurora waiting for them, standing tall beside the door into the training area, her weapon leaning on her shoulder. She looked like nonchalant but Greta could tell she was both expectant and nervous. She had experienced that sensation enough times to recognise it in others.

'So what do you think?' Aurora asked, sounding more confident than Greta had first guessed.

'Nice,' Greta said. 'I can see you're a range specialist.' Greta tried to to dredge up as much professional terminology as she could remember, trying to sound insightful. 'We just need to work on your melee skills. You know how to deal with Grimm one-on-one, it's just groups that make you struggle.'

'You think I don't know that?' Aurora snapped suddenly. 'I'm well aware of my shortcomings. No matter what I do I can't stand up to so many Grimm at once.'

'Sorry,' Greta quickly said. 'I'm just trying to help get everything out in the open.'

'All this aside,' Peter suddenly butted in, breaking up the argument before it could continue. 'What shall we do to remedy that?'

'Well that's easy,' Greta quickly replied. 'We have to formulate a strategy that ensures Aurora is always where she can get support from someone else. She works best at a distance but if she has some backup she could get closer to the action and be able to help out more.'

'That'll probably be easier when we all know what we can do,' Rapture added.

'That's right,' Greta said. 'I mean,' she paused as she recollected her thoughts, 'what this is all about is seeing what we can do and then trying to think how we can fix it. As soon as we're done we can start thinking up strategies.'

'Alright then,' Peter said. 'Since we're done here shall we go back to our room?'

'Yeah,' Rapture added. 'I've got studying to catch up on anyway.'

'Alright guys let's go back to the room,' Greta said. 'We'll check out Peter tomorrow.' She immediately regretted her words when she saw her partner raise an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything, blushing instead and trying her best not to see if her other team-mates had noticed what she had just said.

As the four of them left the training ground Greta felt elated. "It's working," she thought. "If this is all I need to do then leading won't be that hard after all. I've just got to set things up so they'll run themselves and I'll be set for the next four years." Confident in her new plan she felt more relaxed then she ever had since coming to Beacon. With any luck the little bits of effort she put in early would save her from trouble later on.

* * *

'I know its only a been week guys but I was expecting more than this,' Geoffrey Strong said in an exasperated tone, sighing as her sat down on the bed of the dorm room his team had been given.

'Like you said,' Selene Lupina of Team SWRZ replied. 'It's only been a week. What did you expect us to find?'

'A bit more than "they've gone underground."' Geoffrey answered back. 'We have access to the Academy's records and the police files. Something should have come up.'

'Well we checked everything,' Zarina Ocula cut in, 'and they all say the same thing. All individuals who were suspected of having a connection to the Elder Grimm Society disappeared over a month ago. All we found that could give us anything on their movements is that Ruby Rose was dispatched to Atlas to follow some kind of lead shortly after they vanished in Vale.'

Geoffrey sighed again in frustration. About a day after their arrival they had finally been given access to the logs Professor Arc kept on their order. They had been permitted access to the files, bypassing the security protocols and encryptions with no effort but the intentionally labyrinthine organisation of the database was infuriatingly difficult to navigate.

His team and Team SWRZ had nearly a week to go through the more recent entries in the database and all they had been able to dredge up was that the enemy had gone underground weeks ago and had not been sighted since then. It had been rather disheartening to find that their diligent work had brought up nothing.

'Looks like we'll have to change tactics,' Geoffrey said. 'We'll start combing the town. It's going to be hard but if we can get access to the police records again and maybe the CCT logs we could find something.'

He sat up and looked around the room. The rest of Team GOLD were all sat at their assigned beds, listening intently at his instructions. Team SWRZ were crammed into the middle, standing expectantly as he gathered his thoughts.

'My team will deal with the police,' he finally said. 'We can't just flash badges and get admitted in though. Darius,' he turned to the other boy in his team, 'I want you to go to Headmaster Arc and see if he give us anything to make it easier to get into the police. If you can't we'll just have to improvise.'

'Right,' Darius replied, nodding in affirmation.

'We'll head over to the northern districts,' Selene said before Geoffrey could continue. 'It's notoriously crime-ridden so it should have a few leads we can needle out of the locals. It'll give something for Rex to do.' She smirked and threw a significant look to the albino who glowered but didn't seem to especially offended by the implications of what she was saying.

'Alright,' Geoffrey said. 'Try not to attract too much attention though. We're supposed to be covert and there's a lot riding on us.' he wasn't fond of the idea of stretching themselves so thinly but Selene's plan had merit. It was also likely to be the best use of Team SWRZ's talents.

'If we're done here me and my team are going to call it a day now,' Selene quickly said. 'We've got a long day ahead of us if we're going to set a route in the north. We'll keep contact with you but I don't think it would be clever to talk all the time.'

With that she span on her heel and led her team-mates out of the room. Geoffrey sighed again and rubbed his eyes, sitting back on his bed and leaning on the wall it connected with. He had never been a covert operative and if their headmaster and Atlas high-command hadn't chosen him especially he probably wouldn't have agreed to take the position they had offered him. Still he had made his choice and now all he could do was perform his duties to the best of his abilities.

'In the name of the king,' he said, almost like a mantra as he sat back, shut his eyes and contemplated the mission ahead of him. Whatever happened, he was sure it was definitely going to be more than he could ever expect.


	8. Chapter Eight: Taking Class Part Two

**Chapter** **Eight** **: Taking Class Part** **Two** **:**

 **September 1** **4** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

The last thing Tom had expected to happen after finishing his Grimm studies class was for Adelheid of all people to take him aside for a talk. The tall, statuesque girl had practically grabbed him and guided him through the corridors until they had at least one hallway between them and the rest of their confused friends.

'So, um, can I help you?' Tom asked hesitantly. He hadn't spoken that much to Adelheid and the times she had initiated a conversation had often been very clinical and formal, almost suffocatingly so.

'We need to work on your training,' Adelheid said simply, a frown on her face. 'I've been watching your performance for a while now and I'm not impressed. It seems what I said about you on Saturday was correct.'

Tom frowned in response, slightly offended by the blunt assessment of his abilities. He knew he wasn't as able as his classmates but he wasn't a complete amateur. He did actually know how to hold his own against some Grimm. It was when he went up against classmates and other prospective Huntsmen that he struggled.

'That's why,' Adelheid continued, a frown still on her face, 'I'm going to train you and help get you up to par with the rest of the student body.'

Tom paused, slightly stunned by what she had just said to him.

'I'm sorry,' he said, still trying to figure out what she meant, 'but what did you say.'

'I said I'm going to help you,' Adelheid replied imperiously. 'Its clear our current training schedule isn't going to work if you already struggle against opponents like Arthur Raconteur. I'm going to pull you up to the rest of the team's level, then you won't a fool of yourself in class.'

'Um, alright,' Tom said in response, unsure of what to think about what she had just said to him. 'Thank you.'

'We'll start with an assessment of your abilities,' Adelheid immediately said, not missing a beat. 'What was your final score at Signal?'

'Um, well,' Tom said hesitantly. 'I got straight A marks in all of the theoretical classes and the standards ones as well. Practical stuff was a bit more, um, difficult.' He looked the girl in her cold but expectant face. 'I got passing grades in all the stuff actually involving fighting Grimm but they were all Cs. Combat classes were usually Ds and lower C grades unless I was doing group work.'

Adelheid genuinely looked surprised as he confessed his school results to her. 'How did you get admitted to Beacon then?' she asked incredulously.

'I got in on my theory grades,' Tom replied. 'My grades in Grimm studies, applied Dust studies and the like let me get accepted in.'

'Really?' Adelheid asked, her usual formal and superior tone completely gone and replaced with confusion and disbelief. She then groaned loudly and threw her face into her hands. Tom watched with surprise as he watched his team-mate lose her composure in front of him.

'We have a lot of work to do,' she then said as she straightened up again. Her frown was back on her face but there was now a steely determination in her eyes. 'Come with me.'

Tom yelped as she suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the corridor they had been talking in. Tom struggled against the Schnee girl's vice-like grip but quickly gave up and decided to try to match her long strides instead. He had an idea of what she intended for him and he knew, without a doubt, that he was going to receive whatever training she would give him no matter what.

* * *

'Whaddya suppose that was about?' Lach asked as Adelheid dragged Tom away and around a corner.

'She's your partner,' Elizabeth replied. 'If you don't know why she'd do that then why would I?' She had been rather surprised to see Adelheid suddenly come up to her partner and then practically carry him away from them. In the short time she had known the Schnee heiress she had found her to be standoff-ish and quite irritable, a combination that did not make for casual conversations.

'Where'd Tom go?' a new voice asked. Elizabeth turned to see Team GRAP walk up to them from the classroom. The one who had spoken was Greta Hexenpfahl, the team leader. Elizabeth hadn't talked to her that often but she knew Tom got on with her very well.

'Dunno,' Lach replied. 'Adelheid came up and grabbed him soon as we stepped outta class.'

'Well that's odd,' Peter Hamlin said, joining in on the conversation. 'I was under the impression she didn't like him.'

'You talk to her more than anyone,' Greta then said, turning to her partner. 'Why do you think she'd take him away.'

'I couldn't really guess,' he replied simply with a mildly apologetic look. The other two girls of Team GRAP stood behind them, looking only slightly interested in what was going on.

'I don't really see why it matters,' Elizabeth finally cut in, getting everyone's attention. 'Classes are done for the day so I say we find something else to do. We don't know where Adelheid's taken Tom and she isn't going to hurt him so we should just get on with the day'

'I guess that sounds like a plan,' Lach said with a shrug, a bit of concerned hesitance in his voice. 'Probably get some some trainin' in.'

"Gods know I would like the chance to let out some steam," Elizabeth thought. She wasn't a fan of being cooped up in classes for the better part of a day. Why did she need to study how Grimm worked when she already knew how to tear them apart?

She headed after Lach in the direction of the training grounds, Team GRAP in tow. She wasn't surprised that the other team were going in the same direction. Lach was also friends with Greta and the rest of the team would probably want to take the chance to get some training in as well. The entire group stopped for a moment in the changing rooms to put on their combat outfits. Elizabeth was aware of how complex her ensemble was and took the longest, meeting back up with the others after spending nearly a quarter of an hour putting the outfit together. Once they were all appropriately dressed they then walked to the massive domed building.

The state of the art training grounds had been a godsend to Elizabeth, offering a variety of different means for her to practise her fighting style. The fact that the holographic fighting rings let her go all-out on opponents without having to worry about damaging equipment also helped improve her opinion of the place. Back home she had been forced to make do with a portion of the grounds on her family's estate but even then there had been limits about the amount of damage she could do to the portion of woodland her parents had let her practise within.

'I'm going to see if any of the rings are vacant,' she said as they walked into the centre of the massive training centre.

'We're letting Peter have a go at showing us what he can do,' Greta said. 'We're all taking turns to show off what we can do to figure out strategies.' She sounded proud of herself as she explained the little plan her team were working by.

'Let's hope more than one ring is available,' Peter suddenly said with a small grin.

'Yeah,' Rapture Brostein suddenly said, joining in on the conversation. 'Though, if there's only one you two could fight one another for it.'

'Oh that'd be worth seein',' Lach chuckled. 'Can't imagine how that'd turn out.'

'I'd win,' Elizabeth said simply, a deadly smirk appearing on her face as she decided to join in on the game the others had started.

'Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that,' Peter shot back, making a similar expression. He flexed his shoulders and fingers in a mock challenge, bones clicking audibly as he did so.

'Roll up one an' all for the fight of the decade,' Lach said jovially. 'Come an' watch these two young prodigies duke it out for the right to spend an hour or so in a trainin' ring.'

Chuckling slightly Elizabeth looked around to see if any of the nearby facilities were available for use. The holographic rings usually weren't booked by anyone, most of the students preferring to operate on a "first come first served" basis. Since it was the middle of the day, however, most of the rings were taken along with the firing ranges and gymnasium.

As she walked around the area, looking for a free ring she suddenly noticed something. She saw one of the rings was occupied by two people who were facing off against one another. What surprised her, however, were the two occupants of the ring. It was Tom and Adelheid.

They were both facing off against one another, blades drawn and held in a ready stance. Tom looked surprisingly steady and determined as he kept his short-sword pointed directly in front of him and ready to strike. Adelheid only had her proper blade drawn, her Dust-wand still strapped at her hip. She carried herself with a lot more confidence and poise and Elizabeth could see the hints of a haughty smirk through the mask of professionalism she was trying to affect.

'Not bad,' Elizabeth heard Adelheid say. 'You need to hold your sword straighter though and stand taller, you're not skulking into combat.' She then saw Tom straighten himself up a bit more, puffing up his chest and fixing his blade's position.

'No, no,' Adelheid then snapped. 'You look like a robin. You're not strutting at me, you're supposed to hold yourself in a steady position with your blade ready to respond to whatever the battle demands. Now square your shoulders properly and stop looking like you're holding your breath.'

'Uh,' Lach said slowly, snapping Elizabeth away from her sparring team-mates as she realised that he had caught up with her. 'Are you seein' what I'm seein'?'

'Is that Tom and Adelheid? Are they training together?' Greta then asked, appearing behind Lach. Both of them looked visibly surprised at the sight of Team TEAL's leader standing across from the Schnee heiress as she gave him combat tips and instructions.

'So this is what they were up to,' Elizabeth simply said. She directed the statement at the others, not really answering their question but confirming that she was aware of what they had both just seen.

Elizabeth then turned back to look at her team-mates just in time to see Adelheid stride forward and swing her sword at him in a slow but strong arc. Tom moved his own blade to intercept the strike but took a step back from the impact. Adelheid stepped back, giving herself room to twist her arm and bring her sword around from the other direction. Tom was able to bring his blade back into the path of Adelheid's swing but seemed to be visibly struggling against the Schnee girl's deliberate moves.

The more Elizabeth saw the two fight the more frustrated she felt. Tom was letting Adelheid push him around. He was just stepping back from her, blocking her strikes but doing nothing in response. It was clear he knew how to use his sword but all he was doing was letting Adelheid beat on him.

"Hit back!" she snapped in her mind. "Come on! Hit back! Knock the arrogant bitch down! Hit her!"

'At least he's keeping his feet,' Peter Hamlin suddenly cut in, once again snapping Elizabeth away from the spar and back towards the people with her.

'He's giving ground,' she shot back. 'How's he supposed to hold his own if he keeps backing away from her?'

'Well when you use a sword you have to lean into an opponents strikes,' Peter explained calmly, a placid expression on his face, almost like he was teaching her. 'If you just try to endure every blow your opponent sends your way then you'll just exhaust yourself and weaken your weapon.'

'I've never had that problem before,' Elizabeth replied. 'If you blunt your enemies then its that much easier to throw them off balance.'

'Yeah,' Aurora Basilikos suddenly cut in, joining the conversation, 'but do you see Tom doing something like that?'

'No,' Elizabeth said without pause. 'I don't.'

She was fully aware that her partner and team-leader was a weak fighter. He only ever got shots in when he was hiding from his enemies and seemed to have trouble switching tactics. He seemed almost practical in the way he fought and that just made him predictable.

"Still, the possibility of him actually hitting Adelheid Schnee would be nice," she once again thought.

She sneered in annoyance and disgust as she saw Tom continue to simply block all of Adelheid's slow strikes. She knew that Adelheid was trying to give away her movements, every one of them clearly telegraphed so that Tom could block them. It was all part of whatever exercise Tom was being submitted to but she couldn't help but be annoyed. Once again Tom looked pathetic and this time it was the ever annoying Adelheid Schnee who was shoving him around.

If there was anyone who should have had every right to put Adelheid in her place it should have been their team-leader. Tom, however, just seemed to be following her around like a dog on a leash and made nothing but meek expressions as he moved his sword in the way of another slow strike from Adelheid's blade. Elizabeth just felt angrier as she was not only reminded of her partner's weaknesses but had to see his inadequacies exposed, this time, by Adelheid Schnee.

'I'm going to find a ring,' she said, now tired of watching Tom and Adelheid dance around one another.

She then stalked off, ignoring the slightly surprised expressions a some of the others threw her way. Elizabeth wanted to work off her frustrations and knew the best way to do that would be to take out her anger on holographic Grimm. All she wanted to do was focus on dismembering whatever opponents the computers projected for her and try to forget the sight of Tom getting pushed back and around by Adelheid Schnee.

* * *

Greta continued to stare at the sparring match going on in front, wondering where exactly it would go. Adelheid had been slowly raining blows on Tom which he had then blocked and parried. This had led to the two gradually moving about the ring as Tom tried to evade Adelheid and she, in turn, moved into a position to strike at him. Overall the experience of watching them had been rather dull. The only thing that had kept their attention was the fact that it was Adelheid who was teaching Tom ad, judging by the determination on her face, was likely responsible for the sparring session taking place at all.

'Come on,' Rapture suddenly. 'We should move. We kinda look weird just standing here staring at them.'

'You're right,' Greta said. She moved to tell Peter and the others that it was time to move on and together the five of them set off to find a free place to train.

Elizabeth had already left and seemed to have found a training ring for herself. Greta saw that the other girl was already in the process of aggressively cutting apart several holographic Ursa with her massive chain-axe and seemed to be very focused on doing it as violently as possible.

"What's her problem?" Greta asked herself silently. She just didn't understand the red-headed girl. It seemed like her mood could change at the drop of a hat and Greta wasn't confident enough in her ability to guess what could set Elizabeth off.

'So I guess its my turn this time,' Peter said as he walked up to her side. The way he phrased his words made it clear he was making a statement rather than asking a question.

'Yep,' she replied, perking up. The next part of her plan was to see how Peter preferred to train and then she and the others could start to make arrangements around him.

Together the five of them walked over to the spectators seats. Lach had decided to stay with them, saying that he didn't really have a reason to train at the moment and would rather watch the others and see what would happen. Peter left shortly afterwards to find an available ring.

'So yer testing everyone and seein' what they can do before you start making plans?' Lach asked Greta.

'Yeah,' she replied. 'I thought it would make strategising easier if we could all figure out what we can do and organise our schedules around it.'

'Sounds good ta me,' Lach replied simply with a shrug.

Peter had already found a ring that was free and stepped onto it, bringing up the holographic menu and quickly selecting the opponent he wanted. Greta, in the mean time, had found seats for herself and her friends that allowed them all a good view of their team-mate.

'So what now?' Lach asked as he sat down next to Greta.

'Now we watch,' Greta replied. 'Then we judge his skills and figure out what we can do with them.'

Several holographic Beowolves materialised in the ring and roared at Peter who had already teleported two of his Adagios into his hands and then deployed them. Before the Grimm had even finished roaring, their heads thrown back and their throats bared, Peter flashed forward with his semblance and slit the lead Beowolf's jugular open. There was no blood or gore but the Grimm did fall over and disintegrate.

Another Beowolf lunged at Peter who ducked and lashed out with his blades at the same time, cutting the Grimm's outstretched wrist. The Grimm backed away as Peter leapt away from that Grimm towards another Beowolf that was on the other side of the ring. Lunging forward, he buried both blades into the Beowolf's chest and then back-stepped, leaving his swords in the Grimm's chest. Greta saw a flash of light come from the disintegrating Beowolf and then Peter's swords were back in his hands.

'Quick ain't he?' Lach commented.

'Yeah,' Greta replied, unsure whether or not his question was rhetorical and deciding to answer anyway.

Peter followed up in his strike by switching his swords with a pair of his Allegro pistol-knives. He unfolded the handguns out of the blades and fired several shots at one of the Beowolves. Most of the shots impacted the Beowolf in the head and glanced off of the armoured mask. One finally hit it in the eye, downing it instantly as it tried to leap forward. Peter then ducked as a Beowolf closed in and him and swiped with its claws. Peter leaned forward as he ducked, rolling and then coming back to his feet under another Beowolf that paused for a moment as it tried to figure out how to strike at him.

Greta swore she could see Peter smirk viciously as he pointed one of his pistols at the Beowolf's groin and then fired. The Grimm collapsed with a simulated groan of pain. Peter flashed out from underneath the Beowolf before it could topple onto him and then fired two shots into the back of the Grimm's head.

The moment he was finished Peter seemed to shift his stance. His Allegros disappeared and were replaced with swords again. He straightened up and held his arms out again, his blades pointed forward as the last of the Grimm, who numbered about six by this point, crept forward.

Greta suddenly heard someone snort. She looked away for a moment to see Rapture had an amused look on her face.

'He's gearing up for a finishing more,' she said. 'It's so obvious.'

Greta turned back expectantly, just in time to see Peter flash from his position. When he reappeared again he was hovering just above the central Beowolf. Just as gravity took control of him again he brought his right-hand blade down and around, cleaving into the Beowolves neck. A second afterwards he disappeared again, teleporting to the right of another Beowolf. He twisted in the air, swinging both his blades as he span and cut into the Grimm's head, cutting through the mask with the first blow and then through its skull with the next.

For the next few seconds the group could only watched as Peter flashed back and forth across the ring, cutting apart the Grimm as he went. Every time he materialised he was in a slightly different position, reading to bring his swords down on the vulnerable areas of the Beowolves. In an instant the fight was over, all the Beowolves had disintegrated and the projectors shut off leaving Peter standing straight, his arms lowered and his blades pointed down, the tips barely brushing the floor.

"He really likes moving around," Greta thought. "We can use that but we'll have to find some way of keeping up with him."

'Alright,' Rapture suddenly said. 'I think we've seen enough. Let's go get him and then we can head back to the dorm.'

'Sounds good to me,' Greta replied. She didn't mind ending the session so soon since they had all got a good look at how Peter preferred to fight.

'I should get Liz as well,' Lach said as they all got up.

'Liz?' Greta said incredulously.

'Elizabeth,' Lach replied. 'I think she'd be done by now.'

'No, I knew who you meant,' Greta clarified. 'I mean, I've never heard anyone call her Liz yet.'

'Ah,' Lach said in response. 'Well I can't just keep callin' her Elizabeth all the time. It just sounds really unnatural.'

'Makes sense,' Greta said, agreeing with him. "I doubt we could call her that to her face though," she thought as she walked down from the spectator seats.

They found Peter stepping away from the rings, having likely noticed that they had moved and realised his session was over. The other walked up to him, Greta at the front. They were done for the day and she just wanted to hear what he planned to do for the rest of the afternoon.

'So what do you think?' Peter asked as he walked over to them, a slight spring in his step.

'Cool,' Greta replied.

'Bit flashy,' Lach said at the same time.

'Thanks,' Peter said, either ignoring Lach's comment or taking it as a compliment. 'So what do we do now?'

'That's what I wanted to ask you actually,' Greta responded. 'I think we're done for the day so we could just go back to the dorm and relax.'

'Or do our homework assignments,' Aurora suddenly interjected, causing Greta to grimace as she was reminded of the workload they had to deal with.

Uh, yeah,' Greta said quickly, trying to avoid the subject. 'So, Peter, what do you think we should do?'

'Go back to the dorms and do our homework?' Peter suggested.

'We've got to do it sometime,' Rapture said, making her decision as well.

'Fine,'Greta sighed. 'We'll go back and get the work done.'

'So you seem to understand the basics of swordplay but you have terrible endurance and your coordination needs drastic improvement.' Greta turned at the sudden sound of Adelheid's voice. She turned to see the tall Schnee girl walking towards them and the exit.

'Right,' Tom sighed in response. He looked exhausted as he walked slightly behind and to the side of her.

'The first thing you'll have to work on is your stamina,' Adelheid continued. 'I would recommend a new training regimen that involves more rigorous exercise. Once we get past that then we can try to find the best technique for you.'

'Thanks Adelheid,' Tom said hesitantly. 'I'll work something out.'

'Very well,' Adelheid replied. She then noticed the others as she walked up to where they had gathered.

'I'm going to return to our room,' she then said, still addressing Tom. 'I'm sure you'll be able to work something out for yourself.' She then strode off, only glancing at Greta and the others for a moment. Greta wanted to say something, maybe demand an explanation of what had been going on but found Adelheid walked far too quickly for her to grab at her.

'Ya alright there,' Lach said to Tom as he walked over to his friend and team-leader.

'What was that about?' Rapture suddenly asked, finally saying the question everyone had been waiting to ask.

'Adelheid wants to train me,' Tom replied in a straightforward manner. Whilst he said it in a plain and matter of fact tone, Greta noticed the tinge of embarrassment that lay under his attempts at stoicism.

'She wants to train ya?' Lach asked. 'I didn't think she would ever give anyone the time of day.'

'I'm as shocked as you to be honest,' Tome replied. He then paused and a melancholic frown appeared on his face. 'She is right though. About everything. I really can't stand up in a fight for long and I get beaten down so easily. Even when I do fight back anyone with half a brain and a bit of training can see me coming.' Tom's face fell with every word as he repeated his shortcomings as a Huntsmen.

Greta was about to say something, anything to make Tom feel better but before she could say a single word he began to walk off.

'I'm sorry,' Tom said. 'I've got a lot of thinking to do.' Without another word he quickly strode out of the training grounds.

'Do you think he'll be alright,' Peter said as the team-leader of TEAL walked out of sight.

'I couldn't really say,' Aurora replied. Greta wasn't looking at them but she was sure that her team-mates were huddling together as they talked, Rapture likely nodding in agreement with the others.

'I hope he's alright,' Greta said. Tom had been one of the first friends she had made at Beacon and whilst she still wasn't exactly sure about what she could do to help a part of her really wanted to console him.

'It's best to leave him be,' Lach suddenly said, walking next to her and looking her in the eye. 'Trust me. It's best to just let him blow off steam and come look for us.'

'So where have Tom and the White Witch gone?' Elizabeth suddenly asked very loudly, startling both of them. Greta span around to see the flamboyantly dressed girl standing right behind her, the enormous shape of her chain-axe resting on her shoulder.

'Adelheid's gone back to our room,' Lach said, recovering quicker. 'Couldn't tell ya where Tom's gotten to though. Best we leave him be though.'

'Shame,' Elizabeth replied. 'I had some suggestions for him.'

'Looks like yer not the only one,' Lach said in a serious tone.

Greta remained quiet. She wanted to go after Tom but Lach telling her to leave him alone made her hesitate. She really wasn't sure what to do. A part of her wanted to try to comfort him but Lach's sudden insistence that she should let Tom work out his problems by himself kept her from acting on her feelings. Now she was nervous that talking to Tom could make whatever Tom was feeling even worse.

'Looks like Tom's getting help,' Peter said, stepping up beside her.

'I guess,' Greta replied. 'Do you think we should do something as well?'

Peter grimaced slightly as he thought over her question. 'I'm not really sure. I guess if he asked us to help we could but it seems to be more of an issue for his team to work out.'

'But we're his friends right?' Greta asked. 'Isn't that a good reason to do something?'

'I couldn't really give you an answer to that,' Peter said after a pause.

'Best to leave it be,' Rapture added as she joined them. 'It's not really a good idea to interfere with another team.'

'If you guys say so,' Greta conceded with a sigh. She still didn't feel comfortable but her friends had helped make up her mind and so she let Tom walk out of the training grounds.

With a small frown on her face and a bad feeling in her stomach, she also walked out of the training ground. Once again she was worried that she was failing her friends by letting them go and do their own thing alone. Whilst the rest of her group chatted amongst themselves she stayed quiet, focusing instead on the round-about churning of her own thoughts as they continued to spiral down a depressing path.

* * *

Tom sighed as he wandered through the halls of Beacon. It had been several hours since he had walked out of the training grounds and his friends and evening was beginning to fall on Beacon Academy. Most students were back at the dorms or in the cafeteria getting dinner, a few were even down in Vale, making the most of whatever opportunities they had managed to get to explore the town. Tom, however, was in one of the main buildings, aimlessly walking through one of the memorial halls.

The hall was quite impressive. Like much of Beacon it married classical architecture with modern technological designs, producing a structure that was both advanced and venerable at the same time. This particular hall was another commemoration to the heroes of the Witch War, both those who had survived the conflict and those who were dead.

Rows of portraits lined the wall that depicted heroic figures Tom recognised from his history lessons. He wasn't looking directly at them as he mused and so he didn't notice just who was on the portraits he walked by. Tom, instead, stared directly ahead, lost in his own thoughts as he continued to mull over the events of the afternoon.

It wasn't normal for him to dwell on his own problems for as long as eh just had. He had been fully aware of his weaknesses in combat and had tried to compensate for them by playing to his strengths. When he struggled with his combat abilities he instead threw himself into the theories connected to Huntsmen training as well as his other lessons. Now that he was in Beacon, an achievement he had made through his theory grades, he had become even more aware of his shortcomings. It wasn't the actual combat classes that made him more aware of himself, he had gone through those in Signal. It was the team he was now leading that had really hit him when he once again took part in combat classes and failed.

"It'd be easier if I didn't have to live with the people I'm disappointing," he thought bitterly. His hand slipped into his shirt and pulled out his uncle's ring, still on its chain. "And then I have to lead them on top of that."

Tom groaned silently as he finally noticed he was reaching the end of the hall. Wanting to distract himself he finally took a look at whatever was in front of him. It was a picture of Professor Arc standing with his sword held up and his shield held close by his side. He was dressed in what looked like classical plate armour and he even had a red cape that was tied around his neck by a gold clasp with the famous arc symbol embossed on it. Behind Professor Arc was the unmistakable figure of Ruby Rose, holding her scythe ready for combat and dressed in a sleek combat suit with a black skirt and corset worn over them. Her own red cape had been painted so that it fluttered majestically behind her. She was placed a step behind and to the side of Professor Arc and yet the painting gave her just as much prominence. Both of them had the stoically determined expressions that most recent heroic portraits displayed.

'Personally I'm not a fan of that one,' a voice suddenly said. Tom jumped and span around, panicking as he realised Professor Arc was only a few steps away from him.

'Where did you come from?' he blurted out, immediately regretting it.

'I've been here for about two minutes,' the headmaster answered plainly, shrugging as he did. Tom found the image somewhat surreal.

'I'm sorry professor,' Tom immediately apologised. 'I was just startled.'

'It's no problem,' Professor Arc said in response. 'To be honest I was wondering what you were doing. Not that many people look down at the floor when they're walking through here.'

'Oh, um. I was just thinking,' Tome said, unsure of whether he should tell the headmaster his problems.

'What about?' Professor Arc asked. Tome was shocked for a moment by how casually the headmaster talked to him.

'I, um,' Tom struggled for a moment as he tried to decide how honest he should be with Professor Arc. He didn't know if it was appropriate to tell the headmaster about his personal problems. 'I'm just feeling down.'

'Oh?' the headmaster replied. 'What's wrong?'

Tom felt awkward at the headmaster's behaviour. He still wasn't sure how to talk to the man, whether he should also relax around him or try to remain formal and give him the respect he deserved.

'I'm,' Tom paused as he tried to find his words. He finally decided to be honest. 'I'm bad at combat. I always have been. And my teammates have noticed. I've never really cared about my combat abilities and what people used to think about them but now that the people I live with are calling me out I just,' he paused again. 'I just, feel scared.'

'You don't want to disappoint them?' Professor Arc said. Tom knew it wasn't really a question. The headmaster had figured out what was wrong with him.

'No,' Tom admitted. 'I mean I'm… trying, I just.' Tom stumbled again as he tried to think of what he wanted to say. He was torn between telling the truth or downplaying his issues.

'I get it,' Professor Arc suddenly said. 'You're struggling aren't you?'

Tom tried to open his mouth and deny what the headmaster but he continued. 'You wouldn't believe how many team-leaders go through what you are. It happens to all of them. It happened to me. Its a natural part of the adjustment and once you've worked things out with your teammates it will all improve…,'

'It's not that,' Tom suddenly blurted out. 'I mean, um, I'm.' Once again he hesitated. Looking up he saw the headmaster was still smiling indulgently, looking at him as if he was prompting him to continue. 'I…, you're right. I'm scared of what they think of me. Their all so much better combatants than me and Adelheid is just as good at academics. I had my grades to make up for how badly I did in combat classes but its so meaningless here.'

'Now that's not true,' Professor Arc interrupted. 'The entire purpose of this academy is to learn and improve your skills. You managed to work hard enough to earn your place in this school didn't you?' Tom nodded. 'Then you have more than enough potential to become better.'

Tom barely believed what the headmaster was saying. He knew it made sense but deep down he still felt bad about himself. 'You don't believe me do you?' Professor Arc suddenly asked. 'Would you believe me if I told you that I was just like you? In fact I was even worse when I was your age.'

Tom was surprised. 'Are you serious?' he asked hesitantly.

'Very serious,' Professor Arc replied. 'I also didn't get to finish my education. I got thrown into the Witch War before my first year at Beacon was over. If I was able to make it through all of that then you are more than likely to do the same.'

Tom nodded again, knowing full well what the headmaster was saying to him. He still felt bad but part of him was starting to seriously think about what Professor Arc was telling him. what's more he could tell the older man meant it. It was hard to notice at first but the professor's tone was both serious and nostalgic, as if he were speaking not only from experience but the heart as well.

'If you still feel like you can't do it by yourself then don't,' the headmaster suddenly said. 'Get your friends to help you out. That's why we sort you into teams. You're supposed to support one another as you become Huntsmen. They will be willing to help you as long as you're willing to ask.'

'I understand professor,' Tom said and he meant it. 'Thank you very much.'

'You're welcome,' Professor Arc replied. 'Now get going. The cafeteria will be serving dinner soon.'

'Thanks sir,' Tom said and he turned and left. He still felt uneasy but he wasn't as depressed as before and his thoughts weren't spiralling in a repetitive loop of self-loathing.

* * *

Tom walked down into the training ground again. He was still nervous about others seeing his lack of ability and had waited for most of the other students to finish using the facilities. He had waited for most of the others to leave for dinner and had finally walked in to pick the equipment he needed.

The massive domed colosseum was now empty and felt incredibly eerie because of it. Tom had only ever seen the immense training complex when it had been full of students either using the varied equipment or waiting for their turn. Without them the sheer size of the facility was now much more apparent. He felt like every step he was taking was echoing thunderously in the cavernous building. Sighing he walked down to the corridors that led to the floor of the arena where the equipment was kept.

Sighing to himself and again reflecting on how loud it seemed to him in the empty building, he walked out onto the floor of the arena. It was as he stepped into the series of training rings that he heard the noise of loud steps. Curious he walked into the rings, following the clacking noise of feet pounding on the floor. He went past the rings and into the interior of the ground floor's bowl where a large flat space stretched along the middle of the arena.

It was a running track, with lines dividing it into strips to allow multiple people to run along it together. It was also surprisingly large with much of the ground floor taken up by it. Tom was aware of how enormous the training ground was but he was surprised at how much they were able to fit into the building.

It was then that he noticed the other person using the training facility. Looking across the circular space of the running track he saw the figure of a large student. It was Rapture and she was jogging along the outer-most ring of the track. She was dressed in a large tracksuit and barely looked winded as ran. Tom watched from the corner of one of the training rings as she completed a loop of the track and then another, always moving at a steady pace and never once speeding up too much or slowing down.

Suddenly she stopped and then slowly turned to look in his direction, her eyes narrowing. Tom shrank back a bit as she frowned and then put her hands on her hips.

'So how long are you gonna stare?' she spoke loudly in his direction. 'I know you're there.'

'Sorry,' Tom shouted back apologetically as he stepped into view. A part of him realised this was sort of like how he had met Elizabeth. 'How did you know I was there?'

'I can smell you,' Rapture replied with a small smirk.

'You can do that?' he asked, surprised that she would say something like that.

'Faunus don't just look like the animals we share body parts with,' she explained. 'It comes with a few other perks.'

'Oh,' Tom blurted out, unsure of what to say. He hadn't really thought that she would admit something like that since she rarely brought attention to her faunus traits.

'So what are you doing here,' Rapture asked.

'I was trying to get some exercise in before dinner,' Tom replied.

'Same,' Rapture said in response. She then stretched, pulling her arms over her head and popping her spine and shoulders. 'I like to get a little workout in before I eat. It builds an appetite.'

'Oh,' Tom said, pausing for another moment. He thought about what Professor Arc had told him and then looked at Rapture. His biggest weakness was his lack of stamina and endurance and she was the strongest physical fighter he knew.

'Um, Rapture,' he began, still feeling a little awkward about asking her.

'Yes,' Rapture replied expectantly.

'Could I join your workout?' he asked. 'I could really use some help with my strength and you're the strongest person in your team so I thought you would be the best person to ask.' He felt very nervous as he asked her, worried that he was insulting her.

'Sure,' Rapture replied. 'I don't see why you can't.'

'Thanks,' Tom immediately said, perking back up at her response.

'I want to see you here at five,' Rapture immediately interjected before Tom could say anything else, suddenly turning very serious. 'If you're going to follow my regimen then I expect commitment and a lot of effort from you.'

'Sure,' Tom replied. 'I understand completely.'

'Great,' Rapture said, smiling. 'I was pretty much done and there's no point starting now so let's go get dinner.'

Tom followed after the faunus girl as she began to walk out of the training grounds. Despite himself he couldn't help but smile. It had been a very turbulent and emotional day for him with his bout of depression, his subsequent conversation with Professor Arc and the new agreement with Rapture. Now, however, he felt like things could really calm down and get things back on track. All he needed to do now was talk with his team.

* * *

Tom sighed as he stood outside the door of his team's room. Despite having mostly come to terms with his lack of combat skills he was still worried about how his team thought about him. He hadn't been waiting in front of the door for long, in fact he had only just arrived at his room a few seconds ago.

Finally he put his hand on the doorknob and opened the door. Stepping into the room he found the rest of his team were already inside and doing their own things.

Adelheid was sitting at a desk in the corner to the left of the doorway, surrounded by textbooks and typing her homework details out on her scroll. She had a look of intense concentration as she methodically worked her way through the assignments they had been given. Since they hadn't been given many actual official tasks he assumed she was studying the relevant topics for class. He had noticed that she was almost rapacious in her desire to make detailed notes that covered the minutiae of the curriculum.

Elizabeth was sitting on her bed, her legs crossed and a pack of cards in her hands. She seemed to be playing Solitaire again. Tom had noticed his partner had a bizarre passion for the game and seemed to be trying to challenge herself to complete it as quickly as possible.

Lach was lounging on his own bed, his head propped up by his pillows as he watched a movie on his scroll. Having come from a poor family he had been taking every advantage of all of the utilities and other perks that Beacon provided its students. As a graduate of Signal he was already accustomed to some of the things the school provided but he had been shocked about the amount of support that Beacon provided its students and had readily exploited it. As Tom walked into the room Lach looked up at him and smiled.

'There ya are,' he drawled happily. 'Ya feelin' better yet or what?'

'I'm feeling alright thanks,' Tom said, getting the attention of the girls as he walked in and shut the door again.

'Well that's good to hear,' Lach said exuberantly. 'Glad to hear you worked out yer problem.'

'That's kind of what I wanted to talk about actually,' Tom continued before anyone else could speak. 'I'm going to be taking on a training regimen with Team GRAP. I want to improve myself.'

'I see you're taking what I said about you to heart,' Adelheid said with an impassive expression on her face. Elizabeth snorted at the other girls declaration but Adelheid ignored it.

'Well, yes,' Tom admitted. 'Once I've gotten stronger I might be able to improve my swordsmanship as well.'

'That's good to hear,' Lach said again. 'I'd be happy to happy to help ya out if you ever need it.' Elizabeth hummed her agreement as well, likely offering her own help.

'Thanks guys,' Tom sighed happily. He felt a lot better about himself now. His admissions about how he was going to train even harder seemed to have been well received by his teammates and now he didn't have to worry about their disapproval.

Relaxing, he threw himself down onto his own bed and kicked off his shoes and pushed them under his bed. Pulling out his scroll, he brought up some of the articles that would help his studies and settled down to start taking some notes. He was going to get stronger, he was going to keep his grades high and he was definitely going to impress his teammates and friends no matter what.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well here ends the first arc of the story. Now that we have the characters introduced and initial developments finished we can move on to the next phase of the story. From here the plot will actually kick in.


	9. Chapter Nine: Why Did It Go Wrong

And so we begin the second arc of this story. This chapter does contain depictions of violence that are substantially more extreme than what was previously portrayed in this story but I don't think I've surpassed the (admittedly vague) constraints of the T rating.

 **Chapter** **Nine** **:** **Why Did It Go Wrong** **:**

 **September 1** **6** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

It was Saturday again and Team GRAP was back in Vale's Central Commercial District. Once again it had been Peter and Aurora who had suggested the trip but Greta was more enthusiastic about it. They weren't going clothes shopping this time and were just visiting the various shopping malls that the district boasted. Greta had decided that this time around they wouldn't split up. If they remained as a group then Rapture was less likely to get kicked out of any of the stores. Strength in numbers was, after all, the oldest and most reliable strategy.

The Central Vale Mall was a massive commercial complex composed of several different department stores that crossed several streets and were connected by walkways and bridges that spanned the roads. On the outside it was a modern building that incorporated the sleek lines and shiny chrome colours commonly found in Atlas and was covered in various digital signs that alternately advertised the many different brand-name stores that could be found inside as well as the more local businesses.

The inside, however, was a much more diverse environment. The massive size was filled with beatific avenues and galleries that helped direct the flow of customers and visitors. In the middle of the ground floor was a segregated flower display that also sported small pools and fountains. Four more floors rose into the air until they reached the separated partition of the vaulted ceiling. The galleries of the upper floors reached out over the ground floor, the support struts cleverly hidden within the underside of the balconies. More effort had also been made to incorporate the classical architectural designs that much of Central Vale was trying to revive. The entire building was, like many of the larger buildings in the megacity, another message to the people and the world that Vale had recovered and was stronger than ever before.

'So if we're not getting you anything for the tournament I'd like to check out the weapons supplies store on the third floor first if that's alright?' Peter asked as he strode ahead of the group. 'I think that's something we can all agree to check out.'

Greta snorted in amusement at Peter's jab at their last excursion in town. 'Yeah. I don't see why not. I want to check out some new parts for Firebrand anyway.'

'Can we go to one of the Dust stores afterwards?' Aurora asked. 'I want to check the mixes so I can compare them with the school's stores.'

'For the shells right?' Peter asked.

'I want to see if its worth paying for store-bought varieties or sticking with the school's supplies for my rounds,' Aurora answered.

'I need to save more money,' Rapture grumbled.

'Oh come on,' Greta said to the faunus girl. 'Its not that bad. You can just browse and you could use some spare parts for your gauntlets. The components are cheap anyway.'

The four of them walked through the busy crowds and ascended the escalators to the thirds floor of the massive mall. The weapons supply store was at the back of the mall, on the other end of the floor and took some time as crowds of other shoppers filled the galleries.

The shop they did eventually reach was relatively large, filling two expansion lots and with a large sign over the right-hand lot's door reading "Hephaestion's Workshop". They all walked in without hesitation and began to look around. The building was filled with aisles that displayed different varieties of mecha-shift components on them. The walls were lined with larger pieces of equipment as well as standardised weapons that were already completed and sealed behind protective cases.

'So what are you looking for?' Greta asked.

'Just some replacement parts for – well – everything,' Peter replied. 'You wouldn't believe how many small parts I have to buy to keep Symphonic Edge working.'

'I'm going to check out those gun barrel parts they have,' Aurora said, instantly walking over to a far corner where gun parts were hanging from the wall.

'Looks like we'll be browsing then,' Greta said, turning to Rapture who nodded with a small smile.

The two of them walked further into the store. Greta immediately began looking through the displays of mechanical parts. Firebrand was a weapon that required very small and fine parts in order to alternate between its various different forms and functions. On occasion she would pick up the packets that were found under the showcase items in order to compare type and price but she was largely killing time as she waited for Peter and Aurora to finish.

Looking up to see how they were doing she was surprised to see Rapture wasn't browsing like she was but instead seemed to actually be looking for something. Curious, Greta walked over to find Rapture was searching through the aisles of cheaper items with a discerning expression on her face.

'Are you alright?' Greta asked as she approached the faunus girl.

'Huh?' Rapture grunted as she looked up at her, holding two separate packets of small mecha-shift parts. 'Oh, right. No. I'm seeing if there's anything affordable to improve Long Claw.'

'Oh,' Greta replied, genuinely surprised at Rapture. She felt that the more she talked to the faunus girl the more she seemed to find new things about her. 'I didn't think you were that interested in this.'

'I have to keep track of everything,' Rapture explained. 'Long Claw needs so many parts and I want to see if this guy is cheaper than my usual place.'

'Oh I get it,' Greta replied quickly, assuring Rapture that she was aware of the intricacies of modern weapons. 'I've had to keep track of all the components of Firebrand. You wouldn't believe how many parts it takes to fit all of Firebrand's different weapon types into one machine. I just didn't realise you were so interested in pricing.'

'It's all about being careful with these things,' Rapture said. 'And smart,' she then added.

'I understand,' Greta replied and she meant it. She wasn't exactly on top of weapons component pricing but she did see what Rapture was saying to her. She herself had never really cared about comparing brand prices though. She had stuck with the same business for two years and didn't feel like trying to find someone new.

'So we're done,' Peter's voice suddenly cut in. 'Are you guys getting anything?'

Greta turned to see Peter standing with a small plastic bag in his hands that was weighed down by something heavy that she couldn't make out through the white skin of the bag. Aurora was next to him, a bag in her hands that had the tip of a sniper-rifle muzzle sticking out of the top.

'No, I'm good,' Greta replied. She turned to Rapture who shrugged.

'The price's are about the same,' the faunus girl said. 'I don't really see the need to switch to this place yet.'

With that the four of them exited the shop. Greta immediately suggested a nearby game store. She wanted to see if the latest expansion set to "Regna Gloria" an adventure role-playing game she was a fan of was available yet. She had been incredibly excited when she found out her scroll could support games and wanted to make the most of the device. She had promised Aurora and Rapture that they would be allowed to pick which shops they visited after this one of course.

She had been lucky enough to find the copy she wanted and then followed after Aurora when she insisted she get some more makeup. She had taken the opportunity to get some of her own brands while she was there but she did get a little tired as Aurora continued to browse. Overall the little session of cosmetics shopping took half an hour with Aurora finally picking what she wanted and then kindly buying it and moving on.

Now they were on their way to a digicard store to check out some movies for Rapture. Greta hoped that Rapture would get more time to actually browse through the selection this time around. They were riding one of the escalators back down to the ground floor when Greta noticed something.

A male faunus with horse ears was walking through the crowd. He was dressed in slightly rough street clothes and had a duffel bag in his right hand. He had a rather placid expression on his face that Greta would have described as "horsey" which she considered somewhat ironic. What had gotten Greta's attention was the fact that he was quite obviously alone. The Central Vale Mall didn't forbid faunus explicitly but it was unofficially forbidden for faunus to enter by themselves. The fact that a faunus would be audacious enough to blatantly walk in by himself was incredibly suspicious.

The faunus walked into the middle of the mall and put his duffel bag on the ground. He then opened it and began to rummage around inside. Greta paused and watched the faunus as he reached into the bag and began to pull something out of it.

His hand came out of the bag clutching a red object. Greta felt nervous as she saw the faunus' placid expression fade away as he began to grimace. He lifted the object to his face and then fastened it, still looking down. He then put his hands back in the bag and began to lift another object out of it. Several other passers-by had also noticed the faunus and were nervously edging away from him but their own behaviour was no different from if they had noticed any other unaccompanied faunus. Greta, on the other hand, was sure something was wrong.

Her heart stopped when she saw the faunus lift out a small machine gun out of the bag with one hand and a cluster of what could only be grenades with the other. Her throat clenched and she tried to call out but the world seemed to have slowed down as she saw the faunus straighten and reveal the object he had tied to his face was a mask. It was deep crimson and had three white slash marks painted on it, the symbol of the Red Fang.

'Everybody out!' she was able to shout just as the people nearest the Red Fang insurgent began to panic and run. The faunus didn't care and immediately began shooting into the crowd around him.

People collapsed as shoppers were hit by bullets. Greta was winded as she felt several rounds hit her in the abdomen. Her Aura absorbed the impacts but she still fell over from the force of the Dust rounds and was then hit by panicking civilians. She could see everyone around her were running away from the Red Fang member as quickly as they could. She turned her head as she tried to regain her bearings and saw her team trying to force their way through the crowd to get to her.

The faunus was still firing at people but seemed to be directing his fire. Despite her swirling thoughts she realised he was herding people. It was then that he reached for one of the grenades he had, detaching it from the cluster they were all placed in and then primed it.

She could see the faunus grin savagely before tossing the grenade at a crowd running in the direction of the exit. Greta's breath caught in her throat as she saw the grenade bounce once on the floor and then detonate. A wave of noise and force struck her again as the explosive went off, a cloud of dust, concrete fragments and body parts flying into the air.

'Stop,' she tried to choke out as the faunus pulled out another grenade and threw it into the entrance of a shop people were crowding into. Another explosion followed, this one much closer and pelting Greta with pieces of concrete and stone. She also felt something hard but wet smack into her forcefully but she wasn't paying attention.

None of her team had their weapons but she needed to do something to stop the Red Fang member. The faunus was already reaching for his third grenade. He only had two left now but there were still several large clusters of stunned and terrified people within throwing distance.

'Stop him,' she heard someone shout. She thought it was Peter and guessed he might be able to teleport in but it was too late, the grenade had already been flung at another group. The explosion that followed felt quieter than the previous ones. Greta's ears were ringing and the sound of screams and settling debris were muted. The dulled noise made Greta feel bizarre, like the entire world had turned surreal and vague.

Suddenly there was a flash and a pair of legs were standing in front of her. She looked up to see Peter looming over her. He had his back to her and he was facing the faunus, his arms held out as he were ready to pounce on him. She then felt a pair of arms reach around and pull her up. Something slid off of her as she was lifted and she looked down to see a severed arm, discoloured by dust and blackened by thick gore on the severed end flop onto the ground beneath her. Greta felt sick at the sight of the severed limb and, unable to contain the disgusted feeling broiling in her stomach, threw up on the ground in front of her. The limb ended up covered in her vomit which also proceeded to splash on the back of Peter's feet and drip onto the arm of whoever was carrying her.

'Get her away from here,' Peter shouted and Greta felt whoever was holding her drag her away from the faunus who had now noticed them.

Greta saw Rapture step in front of her and beside Peter. A part of her realised that Aurora was the one carrying her but the rest of her attention was on the Red Fang member who was attacking them. She saw the faunus regard them for a moment before grinning maniacally. He primed the last of his grenades but instead of throwing it he instead kept the device in his hand.

'Run,' Peter shouted, realising what the faunus intended to do.

Aurora ran faster, pulling Greta along as Rapture turned and began to ran. Peter flashed away immediately, appearing right in front of Greta, bracing as if to shield her. The grenade then detonated, hitting her, once again, with a wave of force. She fell to the ground as Peter slammed into her, knocking the wind out of her. Greta cried out as she landed, Aurora slamming down next to her and Peter crashing on top of them. Rapture had fallen over just ahead of them but she had managed to brace herself and was already beginning to pull herself back up again.

Greta propped herself up on shaky arms as the rest of her team tried to lift themselves up again as well. Rapture was the first to get back on her feet, followed by Peter. Aurora, having also been winded by Peter landing on her took longer but she and Greta were able to reach a seated position at about the same time.

Greta, her head clearing a little, looked around her and saw carnage. The ground floor of the centre of the mall was wrecked. Most of the damage had been done by the civilians as they ran in terror but the grenades had left noticeable gouges in the floor. There wasn't anything particularly recognisable where the Red Fang member had once stood. Another small crater had been blown into the floor and any trace of the insurgent was gone, likely blown apart and spread across the room.

She then noticed the body parts. She was surprised at how much and, at the same time, how little gore there was. Still there were red smears splattered her and there and body parts strewn about that had belonged to people. She felt sick again when she realised where most of the damage was placed. It was near the exits, the exits she had told people to run to. A small voice in her mind said that the victims would have run in those directions anyway but it didn't matter.

"You've got to calm down," she thought as she stood up unsteadily. "You've got to be prepared for this. This is what happens." The rational part of her mind was telling her the same thing over and over again but she still couldn't let go of the horrible feeling twisting inside of her. It was then that she started hearing the sirens.

* * *

Greta sighed as she finished giving her impromptu report to the police. It had been several hours since the bombing and she and her team, as the only survivors who had been directly on the scene had been practically interrogated. It had been rather difficult of course as she was still slightly stunned by what she had just experienced.

Peter sat next to her, quietly staring into the distance and fiddling with his scroll. His expression was different though. He seemed angry, a deep frown was on his face and he was glancing around, often returning his gaze back to the mall which was now being swarmed by various emergency services. The entire area had been cordoned off and large numbers of police had arrived. It made sense for the biggest commercial complex in Vale to receive such a large response but the sight of it all was very intimidating.

'We'd like to thank you all for your cooperation.' an officer said to them as he walked away from taking a report from Rapture. 'You're free to go but we'll be contacting the school and may call you back in for further information.'

'Thank you sir,' Rapture said quietly. Out of all of them she seemed the most upset by the incident. Her expression was flat and appeared impassive but her eyes were watering and she occasionally trembled with barely repressed anger. Greta was afraid she would lash out and didn't want to think what would happen if the officer took her attitude the wrong way.

Greta turned to look at Aurora and found her staring forward at the ambulances with a forlorn expression. She had been staring at the injured and dead being carried away by paramedics for ten minutes now and Greta was worried about her. Her depressed silence was broken only by the occasional sigh of regret and frustration which was usually followed by several seconds of grimacing before her face returned to its previous expression. The officer who had interviewed them had thankfully been patient with her as she had been rather sparse with details on her experience.

'Are you alright,' she asked, startling Aurora from whatever she was thinking about.

'Um, yes,' Aurora said, seeming much more uncertain suddenly. She grimaced again but this time there was no anger, just disgust as she saw more body-bags being brought to the ambulances from inside the mall.

Greta settled down again, also feeling unsure of what to do. She was genuinely lost, struggling to think of what she could do. All of her team were unsettled by the entire incident and no-one had made any moves towards finding something to do. All they could do was try to distract themselves and not think about what they all witnessed.

Greta looked around as she too tried to find something to occupy herself. She couldn't look at the ambulances and the large number of bodies that were still being tagged and taken to the convoy of ambulances that had gathered near the mall. Crowds of people had gathered at the edge of the police line that the emergency services had set up and though some had grown bored and left the spectacle of watching the clean-up of such a massive crime still kept many peoples' attention.

It was then that something caught her eye. Amongst the sombre uniforms of the emergency services was a splash of colour that really stood out to her. Focusing on the out of place individual she saw a young woman that seemed to be at about a student's age. She had blonde hair, noticeably pale skin, was dressed in red armour and had a long cape covering her shoulders and back. Greta narrowed her eyes and frowned as she watched the young woman talk with the police. It was not that unusual for training Huntsmen and Huntresses to involve themselves in local emergencies and they were allowed to consult the emergency services and offer assistance. Older students were also issued training missions that could include police work and the woman in red looked like she belonged in one of the upper years.

The woman's presence wasn't what had gotten Greta's attention, however. It was the fact that the police were openly deferring to her and answering her questions immediately. In any other circumstance the emergency services would have hesitated at least a little bit since they were professionals and tended not to approve of teenagers, often with overblown egos, intruding on their work.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the student immediately went over to the ambulances and inspected the bodies without any intervention from the police or paramedics. Students – whether as an unofficially involved party or assisting emergency services as part of their curriculum – were never allowed near the vital evidence of a crime scene like that. Whoever this woman was she was not a normal student.

'We should go guys,' she suddenly said. 'There's no reason to stay here.'

'What!?' Rapture suddenly snapped. 'No! No! We should be doing something.'

Greta was surprised at the faunus girl's reaction. She had noticed that Rapture seemed to be the only one in their group who was actually angry but she hadn't expected her to suddenly start shouting.

'I… I can't believe I've been sitting here all this time,' Rapture continued. Turning away from Greta as she directed her rant at herself and the rest of the group. 'We just saw a member of the Red Fang murder people. We survived him attacking us. We were involved in it. We should be doing something to stop them.'

'What do you mean stop them?' Aurora suddenly asked, sounding angry as well. 'There was only one of them. He's dead and we weren't able to do anything. It's over.'

'Where there's one Fang there's always more,' Rapture shot back. 'They're like rats.'

'And what do you expect us to do?' Aurora replied. 'We don't know what happened,' she said counting off on her fingers as she stared her partner down. 'Why it happened. Or what the police are going to do about it.'

'We're allowed to question the police for information,' Rapture then said. 'We're Huntresses in training. We can get involved.'

Throughout the argument Peter just stared forward, his head in his hands. Greta could see the scowl on his face thatr got deeper and darker with every exchange between the two girls.

'Guys,' Greta interrupted, feeling tired. 'Its not our problem right now. The police can handle it.'

'What!?' Rapture shouted again. 'What do you mean its not our problem? That guy attacked us.'

'No he attacked the mall,' Greta then snapped. At that point she found that all she wanted was to go back to their dorm. Her entire body felt heavy and her head still hurt from the blows she had taken during the attack. 'We just happened to be there. He could have missed us entirely.'

Rapture looked incensed at what her leader was saying to her. 'That doesn't mean we can't d…'

'I said we're done,' Greta snapped. 'It's not our problem and the police are dealing with it. I just want to go back home, get changed and go to bed.'

Everyone seemed surprised at Greta's reaction, Rapture most of all. The faunus girl paused for several seconds and stared her leader down before sighing.

'Fine,' she said. Rapture still had a very defensive posture, keeping her shoulders squared as she turned and picked up her things. Peter got up next, looking rather unsure of what he was going to do now. Greta waited for Aurora to walk past her, accepting a nod from the darker skinned girl but not really understanding what she was trying to say to her with it.

Together the team walked away from the crime scene, informing the police that they were done. The trip back was done in complete silence, a tense atmosphere surrounding them. Greta tried to get Peter's attention and saw him look back at her but she couldn't understand the expressions he made. He seemed to be unsure of himself, angry and depressed all at the same time. Greta felt nervous about what was happening with her team. In one fell swoop everything had gone horribly wrong.

* * *

Greta threw the door to her room open and then shut it in one swift movement. Team GRAP had split up as soon as they got back to the dorms, ignoring the looks of surprise and curiosity from the other students. Aurora and Rapture had both headed to the girl's showers and Peter had gone to the boy's section. Rapture had scowled at Greta before she went off as well. Greta was surprised at how quickly the team had gone off. They hadn't even picked up toiletries or a change of clothes but she did know that the changing rooms provided cheap bathrobes.

The moment she had stepped in her room the exhaustion she had been feeling for a long time hit her hard. Not wasting a moment Greta strode over to her bed and flopped down on it, face first. She moaned tiredly into the duvet as she felt herself relax. slightly from the fatigue of the day.

She lay there for several minutes trying her hardest not to think about what she had seen that day. Despite her best efforts she still couldn't get the attack and the police response out of her head. Several times she found herself hitting either the bed or her own head in frustration as she tried desperately to think of anything else, her head still buried in the duvet.

Finally she came up to breath and looked at her arms which were stretched out in front of her. She remembered her clothes, hands and – presumably – her face were covered in dust from the attack. The sight of the debris fragments immediately made her feel ill as the memories of the attack flooded back with great vividity. Groaning she got up off of the bed and took off her dress. Throwing it on the floor she saw that her t-shirt and trousers were also filthy. Not wanting any of the dust on her she threw the rest of her clothes off until she was down to her socks, bra and panties. She decided, since the bathroom was free that she would wash off the rest of the dust.

She was about to throw her clothes into her corner of the room so that she could later send them to be washed when she noticed something on her dress. There was a large and noticeable streak of red running down the back of her dress. It was blood, the blood of the arm that had landed on her during the attack.

Once again the memories came to the forefront of her mind and she froze up, standing over her soiled clothing. She remembered the sight of the severed limb, the feeling of it landing on her and then sliding off of her back. Despite her best efforts she couldn't distract herself from the remembered sight of the aftermath of the attack. Frustrated with herself she clutched her head in her hands and then began hitting her head with the flat of her hand.

'Why?' she mumbled to herself quietly, punctuating each sentence with another smack to the side of her head. 'Why can't I just forget it? I've faced Grimm. I've killed monsters. I've been fighting for years. Why can't I just get over this?'

It was then that she heard the doorknob to the room turn. Greta panicked as the door swung open and Peter walked in. His expression seemed distracted for a moment until he looked at her. He flushed immediately as he noticed Greta was undressed and quickly span around and shut the door whilst Greta tried to cover herself. Her face bright red, she grabbed one of her nighties and threw it on.

'Sorry,' Peter's slightly muffled voice shouted from the other side of the door. 'I did knock but I didn't hear anything. I honestly didn't know you were in there.'

Greta was surprised by that. Had she really been that distracted that she hadn't heard Peter knock? As far as she knew Peter wasn't the type to try to sneak a peek on the girls in his team and seemed to consider knocking a courtesy that he expected to both give and receive on principle. It wasn't the first time she had gotten tunnel vision when she was focusing on something but it had never been this bad before.

'It… uh, it's alright now,' she said. 'You can come in now. I'm dressed.'

The door opened and Peter poked his head in. He relaxed when he saw she had more clothes on and walked back in, still looking slightly worried.

'Sorry,' he said again. Greta noticed he was dressed in a simple white cotton bathrobe and was carrying a bundle of clothes in his arms. 'I just came back to get changed after showering.'

'It's alright,' Greta replied. 'Just be quick. I want to use the shower in there.'

'Sure' he said quickly before picking out a new set of clothes and striding into the bathroom.

Greta sat back down on her bed and put her head back in her hands, groaning loudly. "How can this day get any worse?" she thought.

Peter walked back out of the bathroom several minutes later. He was dressed in a less formal version of his hunting outfit and didn't have his overcoat on. He also looked a lot more relieved, likely because he was finally clean and had changed.

'Its all yours,' he said as he walked over to his own bed and lay down on it.

Greta strode into the bathroom and peeled off her clothes. She bundled them up and threw them into the corner of the room and then stepped into the shower. She felt strangely relieved as she turned the water on and felt it wash over her. At first the flow was cold but she didn't mind as the water quickly warmed up and the sensation of being washed finally helped her relax.

Sighing again she rubbed her face several times and then grabbed for some soap. She washed herself down properly, watching the thin coating of dust slough off of her skin. Her hair took considerably longer and she felt frustrated as she had to wash it over and over in order to get the dust and dirt out of it. Each time she ran her fingers through it she felt grains of debris that made her skin crawl again as she remembered where it had come from. She didn't know how long she had spent cleaning herself off but when was unable to feel any dust on her body she finally shut off the shower-head and stepped out.

She immediately grabbed two towels, wrapping one around her head and the other around her body. It took her several seconds of towelling before she realised she hadn't brought a change of clothes in with her. Sighing she stepped out of the bathroom and went to grab a new set to change into. Peter was lying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling and muttering to himself. Every moment that passed made her realise that she was actually feeling better after that. The more she thought about it the more unsettled she felt. Now the disturbing sensation she felt wasn't caused by her memories of the event but the realisation that she was feeling less upset by it.

She got dressed quickly and came out in t-shirt and pair of trousers that were coloured her favourite shade of dark green. Still not feeling like she had finished she went over to one of the desks that she had claimed for herself. A small mirror and stand had been put on it and she grabbed a hairbrush from near her bed. She spent several minutes brushing and smoothing her hair, watching Peter in the reflection of the mirror as she did so. He was still talking quietly to himself, a bitter expression on his face.

Finished with her hair she got back up from the chair she was sitting in and went over to her bed. Flopping down onto it she lay on her front with her chin resting on her folded arms. She stared at the headboard for a while as she tried to think of something to say, Peter's quiet muttering a constant background noise.

'Are you alright?' she said as she turned on her side and looked at Peter.

'Huh?' Peter said, startled from his monologue. 'Sorry, what did you say?'

'I asked if you're alright,' Greta repeated. 'You've been talking to yourself for a while.'

'It's nothing,' he replied, his tone sounding cold. His tone lightened as he continued 'I was just saying whatever was on my mind. You know? Just to keep my thoughts on track.'

* * *

Peter paused as he tried to get his thoughts straight. He had been mulling over the attack he had survived earlier and it hadn't helped his mood. His thoughts had just circled around into a twisted cycle of melancholy and anger as his regrets over being unprepared combined with his disgust at the destruction and death and the subsequent anger at the perpetrator. It hadn't helped that the filthy animal had then gone on to blow himself up and rob him of the chance of beating the guy down and exacting justice.

He carefully considered what he wanted to say to Greta. He had deflected her last question by being vague but he guessed that she would follow up his reply with a different variation of it.

'So what have you been thinking about?' she asked. Peter felt frustrated at her for continuing to ask. He wondered if he had been a little too subtle in his attempts to dissuade her from talking to him or if she was too dense to get the hints.

'Nothing in particular,' he replied, squashing his anger back down and fixing a neutral expression on his face. Snapping at her wouldn't help. 'A book I was reading, a song that popped into my head, a movie, you know? Whatever comes to mind.'

'Right,' Greta replied. She turned silent for a moment and Peter hoped she had gotten the hint and was going to drop the subject. 'Just,' she then began, dashing Peter's hopes, 'it's all so… difficult.'

'Difficult?' Peter asked despite his better judgement. He had been about to tell Greta that he didn't want to talk at that moment but her choice of words – and the fact that she clearly been searching for a particular word – had nudged his curiosity.

'Yeah,' Greta replied. 'It's all been so…,' she paused again as she seemed to be trying to rethink how she could word her thoughts. 'I mean, what happened today?'

Peter paused as he tried to think of what he could say to her question. He was quite sure that she knew exactly what had happened earlier in the day but it was likely that she still had trouble registering it. "To be honest I'm not sure if it really happened," he thought.

'What do you mean?' he asked after a few seconds of thinking.

'I mean,' she paused again. 'Well, we just survived a terror attack and it was just, so… so quick. And now we're back here again and it was just over and then we talked with the police and just went back to Beacon.' She sounded depressed as she spoke, the memories she was thinking about likely making her feel bad.

'You think it was too quick?' Peter asked. He knew where she was coming from. He himself wasn't sure what to make of the day they had all just experienced.

'Yeah,' Greta said. 'It's not just that though,' she then continued. 'It's just that I felt awful after it was over and then I felt worse when we got back. But now I don't feel bad. I mean, I'm finding it easier to forget about it and that… that makes me feel bad.'

Peter blinked for a moment, unsure of what to say. He kind of felt the same as he had relaxed a lot more after he had washed off the grime from the attack and had a little time to sit down and think. He blinked again as he immediately realised that he had also calmed down from his internal burst of anger. His thoughts were no longer circling around the same feeling of anger at the event, its perpetrator and his inability to do anything.

'I think I know how you feel,' he finally said after a lengthy silence. 'I'm not surprised by it though. You get used to it.'

'What do you mean get used to it?' Greta half-shouted. 'We got attacked in a mall! People died! There's blood on my dress and the gods only know what else was coated on me a minute ago!'

'We're Huntsmen,' he replied in an intentionally calm tone. Despite his best efforts he couldn't keep the melancholy tone out of it. Different unpleasant memories were beginning to surface. 'We're supposed to be able to deal with this. We face down monsters all the time and kill them. We need to get used to moving on from death.'

Greta looked at him with a completely shocked expression. Peter felt a little bad as her look quickly morphed into one of disbelief and disgust.

'How could you say that?' she said in a much quieter tone. Peter was glad she wasn't shouting but found the disgusted tone of her voice much more damning.

'Sometimes you can't help people,' he replied, feeling bitter again as he said the very thing he hated recognising. 'Then there's the times where trying to help only makes it worse.' With those words he remembered the sight of an endless copse of burnt logs that were buried halfway into the ground and had stretched on like a black, dead forest.

'Anyway,' he continued, feeling angry again, 'weren't you the one who said the police were handling the investigation? It wasn't our problem anymore so we moved on. You argued with Rapture over that one didn't you?' He scowled as he spoke, his voice sounding accusatory though he didn't really know who he was accusing and what for.

Greta paused for a moment, stunned by what he had said. She opened and shut her mouth several times before frowning at him. She then pushed herself off of the bed and stomped out of the room, aggressively opening and slamming the door as she left.

'Bollocks,' Peter swore as he realised he had pushed things a bit too far. He had been trying for so long to not let his temper go again and had done a very good job of keeping himself in check. He had even been sure he wasn't letting go that much with the little argument he had just had with Greta. It had even started out well but had spun out of control so quickly. All it had taken was one moment where he didn't think things through, where he let something slip and he had just upset his partner.

Sighing he threw himself back on his bed and smacked it into the duvet over and over. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Stupid!" he berated himself in his head over and over, punctuating each internal recrimination with another slap on his pillow and covers with the back of his skull.

When he was done harmlessly beating himself up he let out a long breath he didn't know he had been holding and sat back up. He wasn't comfortable being alone in the room, especially with the thoughts that were returning to the forefront of his mind.

"I'm going to the music room," he thought. He needed to find something loud to distract him and he didn't want to just lie down on his bed. Getting up he put his shoes on and walked out of the door, making sure it was locked before heading out of the dorms and in the direction of the extracurricular classrooms.

* * *

Rapture stomped through the dormitory falls, a scowl on her face. She had been avoiding going back to the dorm and had even sat in the changing rooms in a loaned bathrobe for a while, waiting as long as she was willing to in order to delay the inevitable.

She was not going to deny that she was angry, both with the attack and Greta's response to it. The entire situation had just infuriated her but the longer she had to think about what had happened the more furious she became. She had in fact found herself punching the walls during her shower and had only stopped when she heard the initial crunch of the wall tiles as they began to crack from the pressure. She had noticed, after finishing, that the relatively few girls who were also in the showers at the time were either scared or disdainful of her after the outburst which hadn't helped her mood.

She found the door to the room locked and snorted in further annoyance. She gripped the doorknob and felt the identity sensors embedded in the object recognise her and unlock the door. She found the room empty but the pile of dirty clothes that were recognisably Greta's told her that people had been in it before.

Rapture chucked her own dirty clothes at the foot of her bed and threw off the bathrobe. She grabbed the large, breezy tracksuit she worked out in and quickly put it on. Dressed again, she strode back out of the room and down to the training grounds. She felt worked up despite the shower and needed to let off steam. She was still furious but she realised she felt a lot less clear about exactly what she was angry with. The attack and the faunus who had perpetrated it got her blood boiling the most but she found her teammates' reactions to it far more infuriating. Greta's unspoken rank-pulling had been the final straw and she hadn't said a word to any of them for the entire trip back.

The shower had helped a bit but stepping out of it had just let all of the things she was trying to ignore return to the forefront of her mind. Now she wanted to let out steam and when she didn't know what to do with herself she always found working out helped.

The training grounds were, as always, packed. Though most students were spending their weekend relaxing there were always those who used the time to improve themselves. There were also those who considered working out a hobby and just used the facilities the school provided. Most of the students were using the training rings, pitting themselves against a variety of holographic Grimm. Rapture ignored them and instead walked further into the interior, bypassing the rings and instead walking into the running track at the centre of the massive facility.

She didn't even wait to see how many other people were also using the tracks and ran onto one. Normally she would pace herself but she was too angry to want to slow down. Instead she began sprinting, weaving between other students who were trying hard to dodge the large faunus girl that was suddenly bearing down on them.

Rapture did lap after lap, slowly increasing her pace as she went. She didn't know how long she ran but she eventually began to tire out and slow down. Her breath became heavy and she slowed down even as she tried to ignore her fatigue and keep going. It was only when her muscles burned from exertion and she was struggling to breath that she stopped and slowly hobbled off to the side of the track. Falling down to the ground with a groan of exhaustion and discomfort she saw that other students were beginning to return to the running track now that she was done with it.

'Are you alright?' a familiar voice asked. Rapture groaned again and shifted to see Tom was standing next to her, looking down at her with a look of concern on his face.

'No,' Rapture grunted with another heavy sigh. She winced as she lifted herself up on burning muscles.

'Um, would you like to talk about it?' Tom asked hesitantly.

Rapture walked forwards a few steps, the pain in her muscles already dulling. She was used to intense exercise and whilst the bout of sprinting had pressed on her limits a little she wasn't incapacitated by it by any means. Her breathing had already steadied and she was ready for something more well paced. It was then that she realised that, whilst she was still rather upset, she wasn't brimming with anger.

'No,' she finally said, deciding that she wasn't going to tell him. Despite his obvious good intentions she did not feel comfortable with revealing her feelings to the TEAL leader. 'It's nothing.'

'Oh,' Tom said, taken aback, as she left him behind. 'Um. Alright then.'

Rapture breathed heavily out of her nose, almost snorting as she let out a frustrated huff shortly afterwards. She was confused about how she felt but she was sure, despite feeling a little calmer, that she was not in the mood to talk about her problems. Instead she walked out of the running tracks and tried to find the sparring section. She knew that the punching posts would be up by now and she felt the urge to hit something.

The specialised facilities were at the back of the training grounds and featured shooting galleries, sparring rings and even an assortment of indoor obstacle courses. Rapture immediately honed in on a series of open spaces that were delineated by transparent walls and had thick metal posts planted in the floor.

Rapture went for the nearest post and flexed her fingers, hearing the joints pop slightly. She hadn't bothered bringing Long Claw with her and so she wasn't planning to go all out in hitting the posts. Instead she balled her hands into fists and then swung an aggressive right hook, putting all of her weight into it. Her strike connected with a satisfying thud, the metal post shuddering from the impact. The equipment she was using was specially designed to withstand powerful hits since brawling, whether with gauntlets, gloves or bare fists supplemented by aura techniques, were very popular.

Her hand ached a little as she had hit the reinforced post with far too much strength but she didn't care. She simply wanted to take her anger out on the equipment and forget what had happened to her. She struck again and again, beating the post repeatedly and with increasing ferocity as, despite her best efforts, she couldn't get the memories of the event and her leader's response out of her head. She lost track of time as she continued to hit the post, a grimace on her face.

She didn't know when she had started picturing Greta's face on the post but it made her feel a little bit better as she pounded the mental image of her leader. Her hands ached but she ignored the dull pain as she continued to try to find catharsis in the, now rhythmic, sound of flesh hitting Dust reinforced steel.

* * *

Aurora stared at the book she had taken off the library's shelves. Despite her best efforts she still wasn't able to distract herself from what had happened earlier in the day. She wasn't totally sheltered having had to go through vigorous and dangerous training to achieve the grades she needed to enter Beacon. She was a warrior in training, a future Huntress but what she had endured that afternoon had almost been too much. She had stared death incarnate in the face but she had never seen actual bodies before. The alien and disturbing sight had threatened to make her throw up like Greta had during the attack and whilst she had avoided that embarrassment the memories of the bodies still made her feel sick.

Putting the open book back on the table she rubbed her hands over her face and stifled a groan. She reached up and removed her mother's headdress as she felt the age to run her fingers through her hair. The ornamental accessory had been given to her by her father when she was twelve and she had kept it close ever since. There were even times when she had fallen asleep with it on and she had often regretted doing so when she woke up the next morning. Now, however, she was desperate for something to distract herself from her thoughts.

She mussed up her hair, straightened it again and then tidied it back into place before slipping her headdress back on. When everything was back in place she sighed and picked the book back up. She hadn't really been reading what was in front of her and her brief distraction now left her completely confused as she realised she was in the middle of reading an essay on Dust refinement techniques that was all just so much nonsense to her.

Stifling another groan of despair she let the book fall back onto the table and leaned back in her seat letting her head hang upside down over the top of the chair's backrest. The position was undignified and unbecoming of her but she couldn't help herself this time. The discomfort did provide a small distraction but Aurora quickly decided it wasn't worth the gradually growing pain in her back and neck and she quickly righted herself.

'Well I certainly didn't expect to see this today,' the imperious voice of Adelheid Schnee said with a hint of surprise.

Aurora looked up to see the Schnee heiress looking at her from across the table she was sat at. Adelheid had several books tucked under her arm and had one hand on the backrest of the seat across from her position. Aurora blushed as she realised what Adelheid was talking about and reached for her book again.

'W… what are you doing here?' Aurora asked, trying to avoid the topic before the conversation even began.

'Studying,' Adelheid replied. 'Of course. What about you.'

'Oh. Um, I'm just doing a little reading,' Aurora replied. She sat back down and returned to pretending to read the essay as Adelheid sat down across from her and began leafing through her own textbooks, typing out quick notes on her scroll every now and then.

The two sat in silence with Adelheid finding the situation comfortable whilst Aurora wrestled with her tempestuous thoughts. The whole situation had made her scared, scared of her impotency in that situation, scared of her teammates' reactions to it and scared of the faunus. She had never liked faunus, at least when they gathered in groups. They were brutish, indolent and prone to forming gangs who either committed criminal acts or loitered in public areas, scaring everyone else in the area. There were, of course, a few who had elevated themselves above the behaviour of the others but there were just too many examples of faunus barbarity and criminality to change the fact that they were animals and it was in their nature to act barely any better than them.

The incident in the mall had simply refreshed everything she had known about faunus-kind. Rapture was civilized of course, grouchy, but civilized and a bearable girl to be around. Her father had also taught her that faunus were capable of being uplifted and that it was the duty of humanity to make sure they could rise to become better beings. However, the attack by the Red Fang and Rapture's ensuing burst of anger had scared Aurora and she had struggled to remain in the faunus girl's presence.

'Do you think we'll be learning about the Red Fang?' Aurora suddenly said out loud.

'Excuse me?' Adelheid replied, looking up from her notes, one of her eyebrows raised in surprise and curiosity.

'Um,' Aurora stuttered for a moment as she tried to figure out what she was trying to say. 'I mean, will we be learning about the faunus terrorist groups? You know, in history?'

'Faunus Rights isn't for another month,' Adelheid replied, leaning forward. 'Why do you ask.?'

'I, was just curious about why these groups keep rising up,' Aurora replied, aware that she sounded very disingenuous.

'We keep beating them,' Adelheid replied. Her tone was deadpan and she had a blank, analytical expression on her face, as if she was studying Aurora. 'We'll get more of the details in class though. If you're interested I believe there are a lot of books and articles on the subject though.'

'Right,' Aurora said. 'Thanks.'

The two returned to silence though this time Aurora could see Adelheid was watching her in the periphery of her vision. Aurora ignored her, instead staring back down at the open book that lay in front of her on the table. Once again she felt lost as she tried to make sense of what had happened to her. Despite her best efforts she still wasn't able to calm her fears.


	10. Chapter Ten: How To Make Amends Part One

**Chapter** **Ten** **:** **How To Make Amends Part One** **:**

 **September 1** **8** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

The forges of Beacon were normally very busy at the beginning of the week as students from every year crowded in to either upgrade their weapons or restock on fuel and ammunition. Greta was no different as she pressed the ignition switch on one of the smaller forges. Tongues of fire flared up as Dust was fed into the machine and Greta tried to lose herself in the familiar sight of briefly roaring flames. Never before had Greta been happier to make it to Monday.

The rest of her weekend had been excruciatingly awkward as the entire team had refused to talk to one another. Rapture had barely spent any time in their room, leaving to train at the crack of dawn and then disappearing to the gods only knew where until the curfew in the evening. Aurora had gone back into Vale with Adelheid Schnee to Greta's surprise and had stayed there for the day, even after Adelheid had returned to her own team. Apparently she had gone to the Vale Central Library and had glued herself to a computer screen as she flicked through articles. Peter, on the other hand, had stayed in the room, a fact that had prompted Greta to leave it herself and go over to Team TEAL's dorm.

She was still angry with him because of what he had said to her. It wasn't that he was wrong though, in fact what upset her was that he had been right, she had tried to ignore the problem and tried to chew Peter out when he said it didn't matter. She hadn't realised this quickly though and had refused to talk to him, not that he had tried to reach out to her either. Instead she had tried to ignore him and had gone off to find Lach and Tom. Sunday had been spent alternating between avoiding the topic of her team and complaining about them to her other friends, almost to the point where they had become noticeably uncomfortable.

That evening, when they had all come back to the dorm – Aurora and Rapture making it back just before curfew – they had all ended up stuck in an awkward silence. The atmosphere had been incredibly heavy and Greta hadn't been able to ignore the looks everyone gave each other.

The next morning had been even worse as whatever bad feelings their team was harbouring had been allowed to fester. Breakfast had been a quiet affair and Greta had mostly tried to talk to Team TEAL who were also aware of the problem Team GRAP was having. Classes had thankfully been theory based which meant that she hadn't needed to talk with her teammates but that had only made things worse.

Now she was in one of the forge workshops, finally making upgrades to Firebrand. She had been neglecting the weapon lately, her mind mostly focused on her new duties as a student and a leader. At this point, however, she was desperate for distractions and the improvements she had mostly forgotten about were perfect. She felt a lot more comfortable in the presence of the fires of the forges and had felt surprisingly relaxed as she fanned flames and began reshaping alloys. She had been sharpening the head of Firebrand's fire-pike form as whilst her extended weapon was definitely effective it wasn't really that good in melee. If she just sharpened the dragonhead muzzle a little, maybe styled it more like a toothed beak, she could actually stab Grimm with it.

She had finally finished hammering the muzzle into its new shape and had dipped it in one of the water basins to cool the metal when she saw someone walk in front of her. Looking up from the steam that had formed when she submerged her weapon, she saw Peter standing in front of her forge. He wasn't wearing his overcoat and had all of his fully extended Adagios in his hand. Greta noticed the awkwardly contrite expression on his face as he opened his mouth a little and then shut it several times.

Greta,' he finally began. 'I just wanted to say sorry about Saturday. I was in a bad mood at the time and I was having the same problem as you and I just said things without thinking.' Greta was surprised. He had spoken so quickly that her mind had needed a moment to catch up.

'I'm sorry,' she said, still a little confused. 'Um, what was that?'

'I wanted to say that I'm sorry,' Peter replied. 'I shouldn't have said what I did on Saturday.'

She was rather surprised, not by the fact that had Peter had apologised but that he had done it first. Ever since she had stormed out of the room she had expected Peter to continue holding what he had said against her. She had accepted that he had been somewhat right and had even been working up the courage to admit it to him and begin talking again but now he was apologising to her.

'Um, uh, well,' Greta stammered. 'I wanted to say sorry as well. You, you were right. I was getting self-righteous when I did tell everyone to forget about the attack.'

'Oh,' Peter said, visibly confused. 'I mean, that's not really your fault. We were all feeling bad back then and I shouldn't have snapped at you.'

'It's alright,' Greta said, glad that whatever their problems were they were starting to get past them.

'I'm still sorry though,' Peter reaffirmed her. He then gave her a small smile. 'Is that alright?'

'Sure,' Greta said, unsure of what else to say. The whole thing felt so quick after nearly two days of animosity and anxiety. She almost found it anticlimactic.

'That's good to hear,' Peter said in response. 'So what have you been doing here?'

'I'm reshaping the head of Firebrand,' she replied, happy that the subject had been changed. 'I want to actually have a way to fight up close with the fire-pike form. If this works I should be able to stab Grimm with it and still be able to use the flamethrower.'

'That does sound useful,' Peter replied. Greta noted he still looked a little awkward.

'How about you?' she asked. 'Are you here to make upgrades or did you just come to talk?'

'Oh no, I'm here to work too,' he said. 'I've been thinking about making some modifications to the Adagios. If I can get the right parts I want to be able to have folding groves on the blade.'

'Why would you want that?' Greta asked. She wasn't entirely sure how many miniaturised mecha-shift parts were already in the Adagios but further moving parts would require a lot of work an intricacy.

'Well,' Peter said, blushing a little. 'It's a bit stupid but I want to hear the blades whistle as I swing them. If I get the shape of the groves right I should be able to produce a satisfying sound.'

'Won't that give you away though?' Greta asked. She honestly found the idea ridiculous and couldn't even guess Peter's reasons for wanting them – with the exception of it " _being cool_."

'I'm not much of a stealth fighter anyway,' Peter immediately replied, 'and if I need to sneak up on people I can close the groves.'

'Alright then,' Greta said, still rather lost. 'Well I hope you figure it out. I've still got this to see to.' She indicated Firebrand's muzzle which was still submerged in the water.

'That's alright,' he said. 'We'll talk later then.' He walked away from her and to the other side of the workshop, looking for the appropriate manufactorums.

Greta settled down, knowing that it would still take time for the metal to cool in the water. She needed to let it settle again but she was confident that the Dust enhanced alloys would harden quickly. The shape was already ideal so all she would have to is slot the muzzle back onto Firebrand's shaft and it would be perfect.

She thought about Peter as she waited. The issue with him had been rather small and she was glad that it had worked out so well and so soon. Now that it was over forever she realised that there was the much bigger problem of Rapture. The faunus girl had been the most overtly abrasive with her and the rest of the team and had made the most effort to avoid them. She felt somewhat concerned about what this could mean and still wasn't sure exactly what to do to solve it. She couldn't just agree to investigate the Red Fang. They had no leads, no authority with the police and didn't have permission to requisition police resources either.

Once again she sighed as she wracked her brain to find something she could do. Still feeling lost, she sat down and began to think, trying her hardest to figure out a solution to her team's fight before it went too far.

* * *

 **September** **22** **nd** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

Rapture grimaced as she read over an old news article on her scroll. The entire week she had been trying her hardest to chase up any leads that could help her find out about the Red Fang and its operations in Vale. All but ignoring her teammates by this point, she had furiously followed her personal investigation, combing through police records, public news outlets and older city archives. She had still attended classes but once they were over she went to wherever she needed to get her information. Extracurricular and homework assignments had been rushed as she devoted more and more time to trying to dig up whatever she thought was useful.

It had been difficult though. Police records did not offer sensitive evidence or investigatory conclusions that had not been made public. Unless she were a fully fledged Huntress she would not be able to enter the classified sections of the Vale public records or the Council archives.

Groaning quietly so as not to disturb the other patrons of the public library she was staying in, she threw her head into hands. She had spent all of her available time searching but now she was close to giving up. There was nothing on the Red Fang that she could find now. A part of her had expected the information to be classified or behind a paywall of some kind or even censored but the sheer monotony of trawling through what little genuine information she could get her hands on was sapping her strength.

She tried not to think of her team as her tired mind began to wander. Things had been very tense with them lately because of the attack the previous Saturday. Sunday had been the worst day then, even though Rapture hadn't been at the school for most of it. The few hours she had spent in the dorm had been marred by a palpable tension. Whilst Rapture herself was still angry at Greta and – to a lesser extent – the rest of the team, she had been somewhat surprised at the amount of animosity between the other members. It was like everyone had suddenly turned on one another and it, now that she looked back on it, had been unsettling. Of course, at the time, she had still been too angry to care and had just spent her time in their presence brooding, occasionally looking at them only to turn away with either a frown or a sneer.

It was now Friday and whilst Peter and Greta seemed to have started talking with one another again she still wasn't comfortable with them. Whilst the intense anger had simmered down again Rapture just couldn't stand being so close to her team-leader after what had happened on Saturday. They had just seen something horrible, people had died and they could have done something. It might have been too late to save the victims of the attack but they were Huntresses and a Huntsman in training. They had the right to assist in public emergency matters and Greta had just told them all to ignore it and slink back to the dorms.

Still, the rest of the week had been unbearably difficult. Greta had spent the entire time looking hesitant every time they were in a room together. Rapture was sure the girl was trying to work up the courage to talk to her but would then hesitate and lose her nerve. The fact that she kept doing this, grabbing her attention and then just leaving her hanging made Rapture even angrier.

"That girl is supposed to be my leader," she thought angrily. "She's going to be giving me and everyone one else in team orders for four years and she can't even work up the nerve to apologise?"

Rapture thudded her fists down on the desk she had been working at. It took her a second to realise what she had done and then she looked up a worried expression on her face. As she suspected the entire library had noticed and now she was being stared at. Her fists clenched tighter as she saw the worried expressions on the other patrons faces. Several of them were whispering with one another and one of the librarians was walking over to the portly security guard who was standing by the main entrance.

Sighing again, a forlorn expression on her face, she got up from the computer terminal. Her scroll was plugged into a slot near the monitor. She had been saving potentially useful documents and other information relevant to her search on it. With a delicate tug the device exited the slot and folded up. Stuffing it into her pocket, Rapture grabbed a backpack she had brought and slung it over her shoulder. Her little outburst, however minute it was, had ruined her chances of staying in the library. There was also a very high chance she wouldn't be allowed to enter unaccompanied ever again, if she was ever allowed to enter at all.

Her head down she strode out of the door, glancing at the security guard as she walked out. The pudgy man scowled at her as passed by and snorted as if he was going to spit.

'Filthy animal,' he muttered, just loud enough for Rapture to hear. She didn't let it get to her though. She had heard it – and worse – before at so many points in her life.

Rapture did frown as she finally walked out of the library and out into the streets, making her way back to the Skywhale that went to Beacon. Realising she was still in public and alone she quickly switched back to a more passive expression. She knew that expressing anger or annoyance was especially dangerous for her since her features made whatever looks she gave people much more unsettling. It was one of several crosses she bore but she was used to it. Her entire life had been spent in an impoverished district rife with petty crime and virtually abandoned by the city's emergency services.

On top of the distrust and hatred that most humans gave her because of her species she had also suffered fear and mockery from other faunus. She had been shaped by almost total loneliness and had eventually come to expect that people would be disgusted by her. The discrimination she faced from humans because of her faunus heritage had upset her at first but as her adolescence had continued she had slowly realised that the supposed faunus solidarity that the gang leaders in the ghetto constantly espoused was also utter shit. People from both races had been cruel to her so she had stopped caring about either of them. All she wanted to do was live her life as best as she could, broken system or no broken system.

The life of a Huntress had presented a chance for a better life. The academies didn't necessarily discriminate and the hunting profession was the most respectable lifestyle a faunus could achieve. Of course she hadn't escaped discrimination from other students during her time in Signal but it had been an improvement. Her perseverance had won through in the end and she, along with several other faunus, had made it to to the next level of training. She had certainly been surprised when the Custodi brothers of all people had also signed up and earned high enough grades for Beacon.

Her team had been surprisingly accepting though there had, of course, been the occasional snide or distrusting look from her teammates like Aurora. Still, the couple of weeks in Beacon had been an improvement and it had actually been nice to connect with other people after so long.

Then the attack at the mall had taken place. In one instant the short new life experience she had been able to make, separate from the criminality so many faunus in Vale resorted to, had been blown apart. The moment it was over she had felt the desire to find the Red Fang and make them pay. She was infuriated that the perpetrator had blown himself up, robbing her of the chance to beat him to a bloody pulp for what he had done. Rapture didn't believe in arbitrary faunus solidarity but if there was one thing she despised it was members of her own kind whose behaviour reinforced the prejudiced views humanity held. Every crime a faunus committed just made humans double down on the discriminatory laws and attitudes and made life that much harder for her, her parents and other law abiding faunus who just wanted to get on with their lives.

What had really gotten to her though was that her team had just turned on her. After that attack had taken place Greta and the others had given up and slunk back to school when they could have questioned the police about what happened. They were Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, they had the right to involve themselves in criminal matters but the others had told her to leave it alone. That had hurt her more than she had realised it would and she had found she still couldn't get over it.

"Why do I care so much?" she asked silently. It wasn't the first time she had thought of that question and a part of her knew it wouldn't be the last. "I haven't even known them for a month yet. Why did I care if they don't care about the Red Fang?"

She continued to ponder this as she boarded the Skywhale back to Beacon. She never noticed that she had actually forgotten about her investigation until the ship finally landed back at the academy. Rapture panicked as she realised she had forgotten the rather crude plan she had made for the rest of her afternoon. She had wanted to try something that could have helped expand her research. It had been a little detail she had remembered a few hours before and she had meant to make a note of it but now, no matter how hard she wracked her brain for the detail, she just couldn't recall it.

Rapture groaned, more annoyed than ever before now that she had lost even more potential progress. No longer bothering with keeping her scowl from her face she stalked back to the dorms. She had been neglecting her exercise regimen for several days now and knew she should get some kind of workout in before the day was over but the incident in the library and forgetting her investigation plan had left her mentally exhausted. She couldn't be bothered with exercise and so she decided she was going to go back to her room, throw herself on her bed and lie there until dinner.

Irritated at how her day had gone, she made it back to her dorm and opened the door. Inside were the rest of her team. Peter was sitting at a desk with several text books around him. Her raised his head when she entered and gave her a slightly surprised look, both eyes widening as he realised she had in fact returned. Aurora was sitting on her bed with a history book in front of her. When she noticed Rapture had come back to the room an indescribable but somewhat melancholy expression appeared on her face and she averted her eyes. Rapture felt a slight twinge of annoyance as she realised her partner didn't want to look her in the eye. Greta had been sitting on her bed and flicking through the interlink on her scroll. She was the only one who visibly perked up when she saw Rapture enter the room.

'You're back,' she said with a hint of pleasant surprise in her voice.

Rapture grunted an affirmative and went over to her bed. She kicked her shoes off and flopped down on her bed, ignoring the slight discomfort of landing on her scroll which was still in the pocket of her shorts. She didn't waste any time in shutting her eyes and trying to block out the room around her.

'Um, Rapture' Greta suddenly said hesitantly, distracting Rapture. Letting out a groan of exasperation she turned her head so that one of her eyes was no longer being covered by the duvet and she could see her team-leader.

'Yeah,' Rapture grunted, her words half-muffled by the duvet. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with Greta right now and just wanted to try to go unconscious.

'Well, I,' Greta began hesitantly, annoying Rapture further. 'I just wanted to talk, you know, about last week.'

'What's to talk about?' Rapture said more clearly. Inside she was smouldering, more than annoyed that the other girl had brought up the subject of the attack. Whilst it had been at the forefront of her mind all week she didn't want to hear about it from her lackadaisical and uncaring team-leader. 'It happened. It's over. We missed our chance to do something so we should just get on with our lives.'

She saw Greta flinch and bite her lower lip with concern. The sight just made Rapture even angrier because now it was obvious Greta felt bad about what happened but wasn't willing to admit it. She was clearly just trying to patch things up between the two of them because it inconvenienced her. That's all that mattered to her after all, her ease, her peace of mind, her relaxation and the rest of the world could go to hell. Even when she finally decided it was time to do something it had taken a week for Greta to even try to talk to her.

"Some team-leader she is," Rapture thought to herself bitterly.

'Listen,' Greta began again. 'I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened back then.'

'You're sorry?' Rapture said, rising from her bed and glaring at the other girl, the two words practically digging into her as they echoed in her brain. Greta took a step back, slightly scared at Rapture's reaction. 'You're sorry?' Rapture repeated, her anger now much more evident in her tone. 'Sorry for what?'

'Well, for what I said,' Greta replied, now sounding rather scared. Rapture knew it was because of her face, she probably looked terrifying to the other girl. People always gave away their feelings about her when she looked anything other than placid. 'I knew it upset you,' Greta continued, trying not to stutter, 'and I shouldn't have snapped and everything. I didn't mean to upset you.'

'You think that's what this is about?!' Rapture shouted. 'You think this about upsetting me?' Greta was stunned and was still walking away from, looking rather submissive, as if she was trying to placate her.

'We had a chance to do something to actually live up to our fucking training and be Huntresses!' Rapture continued, seething as she spoke. 'But you decided to just walk away and leave it and you told, no, ordered all of us to do the same. I thought you were better than that. I thought you would actually be someone I could look to for help. That's what leaders do right?' A small part of Rapture realised that this was something she had been wanting to say for a very long time.

'You're selfish Greta,' Rapture finally said, quieting down but speaking with much more venom. 'You're a selfish little girl who doesn't care what happens to other people unless it gets in your way. It took you a week to actually try to talk to me about this. Did Peter have to put you up it? I know you've frozen up before this past week. How many excuses did you come up with to put this apology off?'

'Rapture I,' Greta tried to say, looking thoroughly shocked. The rest of the team were also surprised with Peter having gotten off of his seat to stand close to Greta, a frown on his face. Aurora, on the other hand, looked like she was about to leap off of her bed to tackle Rapture. Both looked like they were preparing for a fight.

'You know what?' Rapture interrupted. 'I don't want to hear it. I'm going back out.'

With that she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her and throwing her back against the wall. Despite still feeling angry a part of her felt hurt. Her team had been about to attack her, Peter and Aurora had looked like they were ready to jump at her and try to take her down. The realisation of what her teammates had been readying themselves to do fuelled her anger further and caused her to pound her fists against the wall.

It was then that she heard a door creak open. Team TEAL, who were across the hall and one door ahead were peaking out into the corridor. She could just make out a concerned look on Tom's face but when she noticed the disgusted looks that Adalheid Schnee and Elizabeth Coburg were giving her as well as the cautious expression from Lach Boucanier, she suddenly felt both angry and ashamed.

Desperate to get away from their judgemental expressions, she stalked down the hall. She needed to get away from the dorms again. Deep down, she knew she wanted to get away from the dorms and the people who waited inside them, expecting her to come back.

* * *

 **September** **26** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

'So she still hasn't come back?' Tom asked, sounding very worried. Greta swallowed the lump in her throat as she tried not to think about what her faunus teammate might have done during the weekend where she had just disappeared. Greta had wanted to go after her but she had found her legs refused to obey. She realised that she had been scared, terrified in fact of the faunus girl when she had exploded at her. In that moment she had remembered every faunus bully and criminal who had terrorised her in her life and had projected it over Rapture during her tirade.

What had made it worse was when Rapture had called her selfish. At that very moment, when the words struck her core, she had remembered her mother. She had remembered the angry looks, the shouting, the threats and the intimidating presence. Deep down a part of her had dredged up memories that rarely came up to light. Even after twelve years, though so many other memories were hazy, she hadn't forgotten that face.

'No,' Greta sighed after a pause that had lasted long enough for Tom to try to reach out to comfort her.

'Well if she doesn't show up to class then the school's definitely going to start noticing,' Peter said from beside her. They were currently in their morning Grimm studies class, waiting for Professor Siog to arrive.

Greta sighed and put her head in her hands to suppress a groan. The weekend had been especially harrowing, easily eclipsing the unease she had suffered through during the previous week. She hadn't guessed Rapture would explode at her though she had realised, shortly after the episode, that her own hesitance in talking to the faunus girl had been because she was afraid of a bad reaction.

'What should we do if she doesn't show up?' Greta finally said, her voice barely audible as she talked into her hands.

'What was that?' Peter asked.

'I was just asking what we should do if Rapture doesn't show up again,' Greta repeated, taking her head out of her hands and giving Peter a lost and melancholy look.

'We can actually start trying to figure where she could possibly be staying,' Aurora suddenly said. She had made herself scarce over the weekend, spending most of her time in the library or down in the town and hadn't said much since that Friday. She currently sat hunched over her open scroll and spoke in a dour and tired tone of voice.

'Well she doesn't have that much money on her,' Greta said, remembering Rapture's frequent complaints about budgeting in the past. 'So its unlikely she went to stay in a hotel or anything,' she then paused and blanched a little at an unpleasant thought. 'Unless she went to a really seedy one.'

'If she has done that how are we supposed to hunt her down?' Tom suddenly asked.

'You want to help out?' Greta said, slightly shocked at what Tom had said.

'Well, of course,' Tom replied in a tone that was both indignant and confused. 'She's our friend too.'

'You really mean that?' Greta continued. She didn't know what to say to Tom's declaration but a part of her felt uplifted by his sincerity.

'Completely,' Tom said with a vigorous nod. 'We'll all do our best to help you. Right guys?' He turned to look at his team, giving them an expectant look of optimism.

'Sure,' Lach said enthusiastically. 'I've seen enough of these fights to know how to deal with 'em.'

Adalheid and Elizabeth's reactions were far less inspiring but they both nodded in agreement though not without lengthy pauses of consideration and a sour look from Elizabeth. Greta didn't care about that though. At this point she was just happy to receive all the help she could get and with Team TEAL's assistance they had a better chance of tracking down their missing teammate.

'Uh, guys,' Peter suddenly said. 'Rapture's here.'

Greta practically span in her seat, almost hurting her neck as she tried to twist around so that she could see the door. Just as Peter said, Rapture was standing there, in uniform, schoolbag and scroll in her hands and a scowl on her face. Greta shrank in her seat a little as she saw Rapture immediately scan the room, catch sight of their group and frown. She then spent several more seconds trying to find another seat. Unfortunately the fact that she had been so much later than usual for class meant that all of the other seats had been filled. The only one left was her usual place, with her team.

With the look of someone who was being forced to eat food they disliked, Rapture walked down to her seat and sat down in it, Aurora by her side. Neither girl said anything as Rapture took out her scroll, textbooks and a pen but Aurora did glance at her several times.

'What do we do now?' Greta whispered to Tom and Peter. She was now completely lost, her plans had been thrown back in the air and Rapture's attitude and demeanour had rattled her confidence again.

'Well we can cancel the search,' Tom replied. The slightly jokey tone in his voice sounded as forced as the fake smile on his face.

'Seriously though,' Peter cut in, his voice now lowered to a much harsher whisper, 'this isn't looking good. Do you think she'll listen to any of us if we try to talk to her after class? I think we've all pissed her off by this point.'

Greta was shocked for a moment at the sound of Peter, _Peter, "posh, prim and proper," Hamlin_ , actually swearing. This was immediately replaced by trepidation as she thought about how she was going to approach Rapture. It was clear their wayward teammate was still angry with them and wherever she had spent her weekend hadn't helped her.

'We can't do anything until class is over now so all we've got to do is corner here before she can esca..,' Greta was cut off as the door to the classroom opened again. She turned to see an older woman walking down the central aisle and up onto the stage in front of the chalkboards.

Despite having the same red hair the woman was not Alayne Siog. Instead the woman was much older, with noticeable wrinkles on her brow and around her eyes. She also had a much thicker figure than the slender and petite Grimm Studies professor did. Her face seemed to constantly wear a patient and accepting expression, almost motherly in the way it looked out over the students. It didn't even take a second for Greta to recognise the woman who stood before them. It was Beatrice Siog, the Applied Dust Studies professor and mother of their Grimm studies teacher.

'Hello class,' Professor Siog Senior said, her tone also sounding matronly and patient. 'Unfortunately my daughter is ill today so I will be taking your classes for today. With any luck she'll be better by tomorrow and ready to continue teaching.'

Professor Siog Senior then immediately launched herself into the lecture. Unlike her somewhat energetic daughter, Beatrice Siog was much slower in the way she talked, taking care to make sure she was clearly hard by everyone. Greta tried to pay attention in order to, once again, distract herself from the issue with Rapture. Like Alayne, Beatrice tried to include the class in the lecture and tended to ask the students questions and call on ones she thought weren't paying attention.

Greta tried to follow the lesson and did jot down notes but she couldn't help but think about her team's problems. Rapture was back, in a manner of speaking, but she was still clearly angry with them. As the lesson dragged on Greta's note-taking became increasingly sporadic and distracted as her thoughts circled around the issue of Rapture.

"I'm going to have to get her right after we're done here," she thought with a note of exasperated harshness. "I can't let her go again. I'll get everyone to corner her and then we'll talk properly."

'Miss Hexenpfahl,' a voice suddenly cut in, jarring her from her thoughts. Greta sat up straight with a slight gasp as she realised that Professor Siog Senior was looking at her with a somewhat disapproving expression in her face.

'Um, uh, yes professor?' Greta said nervously as she tried to collect her thoughts again. She could see the entire class was looking at her now, several of them grinning and snickering at her embarrassment.

'Glad to see you're back with us Miss Hexenpfahl,' Professor Siog Senior said. She sounded like a disappointed mother as she silently scolded Greta for her inattentiveness. 'I've called on you several times already.'

'Oh, um,' Greta floundered. 'I'm sorry professor.'

'Now I know its first thing on a Monday but I'm afraid I can't have you daydreaming in my classes young miss,' Professor Siog Senior said, sounding like a disappointed parent telling off their child. Greta could hear the snickers get a little louder. 'Now I'm going to give you one last chance but if I catch you not paying the proper attention to this lesson then you will be issued a detention.'

'Yes, professor,' Greta replied. 'I understand.'

The rest of the lesson passed painfully slowly as Greta tried to make an effort at paying attention to Professor Siog Senior's lecture. Unfortunately, whilst she did a better job of making notes, she still couldn't forget the turbulent thoughts that were going on in the back of her head.

The bell eventually rang and Greta got up. She quickly glanced at Rapture to see she was also rising from her seat and was refusing to look at any of them. Greta mustered her courage as she prepared to call the faunus girl out and finally have the talk she had planned for her.

'Miss Hexenpfahl could you come and see me please,' Professor Siog Senior's voice rang out through the room.

Greta tried not to groan in exasperation and stood still, picking up the last of her things and shouldering her bag. She saw Rapture stride out of the room as the rest of her friends looked at her. They seemed unsure of how to proceed with Tom having the most expectant look on his face. She didn't dare say anything and just nodded at them, telling them to go. Throughout the exchange she had a sour expression in her face that she tried to hide.

The rest of the class walked out, leaving Greta alone with the professor. The room wasn't scheduled for another class until the afternoon so Greta knew she couldn't rely on another period speeding whatever conversation awaited her along.

She tried not to drag her feet as she walked down the aisle to where Professor Siog Senior was standing patiently. Despite trying not to give away just how uncomfortable she felt Greta knew that her feelings were very obvious. Of course she knew full well that she was doing a terrible job at not frowning or grimacing because of the awkward atmosphere she now perceived around the entire room.

'Now dear, I want you to tell me what was on your mind earlier,' Professor Siog Senior said as she turned to Greta. 'You've never done anything like this in my usual classes so I'm either specifically bad at teaching my daughter's subject or something is wrong.'

Greta choked for a second as she tried to think of the right way to reply to the professor. She didn't want to tell the truth but the alternatives wouldn't exactly make her look good to the teacher. She tried to look away from the professor but she guessed that Professor Siog Senior could tell that she was trying to avoid direct eye contact.

'Well?' Professor Siog Senior said softly, prompting Greta.

'I'm sorry professor,' Greta said, trying to begin in a manner that would please the teacher. 'I didn't mean to ignore you. I was just distracted by something.'

'Well it had to be something rather big for you to not hear me when I called for you,' Professor Siog Senior replied.

'Oh, uh, well,' Greta tried to think of another explanation. She was feeling very uncomfortable now as she wondered whether she should keep trying to lie and obfuscate to the professor or tell her the truth. 'I kind of forget about things when I'm thinking. I just got lost in though.'

'Is that true dear,' Professor Siog Senior asked, sounding concerned. 'The look on your face when I tried to call you was very distressed and I don't normally see students look as worried about talking to me as you did unless they trying to hide something.'

Greta tried not to grimace and pulled another sour face as she struggled to come up with a good response. She wracked her brain as she realised she wanted to say anything other than "her team had a problem." What's more she felt surprisingly vulnerable in front of the matronly teacher and unsure of how to deal with her.

The professor didn't make her feel uncomfortable like a cruel or intimidating authority figure would but she was still slightly unsettling. Greta wasn't unfamiliar with parental carers but there had been very few of them. There had also been incidents with those who did try to get more involved. She had seen two directors and a priest from a nearby chaplaincy, all of whom had been much more involved with the orphans and tried to personally care for them, that had been hospitalised by the older and more criminal residents. Eventually the institute ended up being run by much less involved people who didn't dare get too close to their charges.

'You know the teachers are here to help you,' Professor Siog Senior suddenly cut in after several awkward seconds. 'We do encourage initiative amongst our students but if there is a problem you need help with we will do something.'

Greta frowned but the rest of her face looked distressed as she wrestled with her options. Every time she looked at the professor she thought of the kind people from her childhood and it was hard to resist just blurting everything out to her. Professor Beatrice Siog was the kind of authority figure she didn't like dealing with. She just felt so weak in front of them and it made it impossible to keep what little composure she was normally able to muster.

Greta sighed as she tried to look the teacher in the eye. Professor Siog Senior still looked concerned but also encouraging, telling Greta it was alright to admit her problems through her eyes alone.

'My team's having a fight,' she admitted, still trying to tone down the severity of the problem.

'Oh?' the professor said, her expression becoming much more serious but still sounding concerned. 'How long has this been going on?'

'A little over a week,' Greta finally said with a lot of hesitance. 'It started with that attack on the mall.'

'Oh yes, I heard about that,' Professor Siog Senior said, a sympathetic look on her face.

'After it was over Rapture wanted to go and help,' Greta admitted. 'I… I didn't want to. I told everyone not to and we all just… started fighting.' she paused and looked at the professor who, once again, gave a small nod to prompt her to continue. 'Well, we haven't stopped. I mean, Peter and Aurora and me have all made up but Rapture's still angry. She said it was my fault,' her voice turned incredulous and angry, 'she said I was selfish and that I should have told us all to go and try to help the police. Then she just disappeared last Friday, she didn't come back to our dorm and we only just saw her when she walked into class this morning.'

Greta finally stopped talking and took several deep breaths. She wasn't mentally exhausted though she had thought admitting to the big problems she was facing and getting it all off of her chest in front of a teacher should have left her mentally exhausted. Instead she just felt uncomfortable again, as if telling the professor what was going would just make things worse.

'That must have been hard to admit?' Professor Siog Senior said, cutting right through Greta with her words. She looked at the professor, shocked at what the older woman had just said and saw nothing but sympathy and understanding radiating from her. 'It's difficult for student's here to talk about their problems, especially team-leaders.'

Greta was stunned by the professor's words. She knew that, logically, she couldn't be the only student that was having trouble with their team but it still felt so harsh and even unfair for the professor to single her out and have her confess about her troubles. She began to feel irritated now. She had been confused by the professor's treatment of her at first but now that they were talking about the problem she was having with Rapture, even though it was in the vaguest of terms, she was starting to get annoyed. Professor Siog Senior didn't know how she felt or how difficult the last week had been for her and now she was lecturing her on leadership and how she was supposed to be dealing with it.

'I understand that you probably feel that you have to solve your problems yourselves and you're right,' Professor Siog Senior began. 'This happens all the time and I've seen plenty of leaders and prospective leaders try to take all of their team's issues onto their shoulders. It is admirable but a little misguided and…,'

'I didn't ask for this though,' Greta suddenly blurted out, suddenly catching what she had said and raising her hand to cover her mouth in shock before stopping.

'Oh?' Professor Siog Senior said, looking somewhat surprised at Greta's brief outburst. Her tone was still patient though and so Greta felt a little bit more relaxed.

Greta settled into her seat, feeling incredibly awkward. She looked at the professor and saw sympathy and proffered understanding. She was encouraging Greta to speak her mind.

'I,… I never wanted to be leader,' Greta began. 'I didn't ask for this. I never wanted to be in charge of people and I didn't want to have to deal with all of this,… this,...' she tried to reign in herself before she swore in front of the professor as she vented. 'It's all so hard,' she finally said after a lengthy pause.

'I know dear,' Professor Siog Senior replied. 'It's always this hard, I'm not going to lie to you. But you are capable of dealing with it. I know you are. Otherwise you wouldn't have been chosen to be leader.'

'How am I supposed to deal with it?' Greta snapped. 'When I tried to talk to Rapture she just exploded at me.'

'So it's Miss Brostein who's causing the problem?' Professor Siog Senior quickly asked. The professor sounded much more serious now, the concern in her voice sounding similar to the disciplinarians Greta was more familiar with.

'No,' Greta immediately said. 'Well, yes.… sort of. It's really complicated.' She groaned in exasperation and slumped forward in her seat, her hands on her head. 'I just.… I don't know what I said. I tried to apologise for upsetting her after the mall attack and she just freaked out and started shouting at me. Then she ran out of our dorm and didn't show up until this morning.'

'I see,' the professor said in an even tone. 'Do you know what you said to her?'

'I said I was sorry,' Greta immediately replied. 'All I did was apologise for upsetting her after that attack. At least I think she was upset. I was trying to see what was eating at her back then and she just went nuts.'

'And you didn't see her between then and this morning?' Professor Siog Senior asked for clarification. 'You haven't been able to try and ask her what went wrong back then?'

'No,' Greta said. "I was about to try to before you called me here though," she thought bitterly after replying. 'I also have no idea what I did wrong. She just called me selfish and then she stormed out.'

'Well I don't really know what to say other than you should try to get her to talk it out with you,' Professor Siog Senior said. She sounded concerned again and a little contrite over admitting she couldn't offer much help. 'I will tell you though that we teachers are here to help you. We can't really force your team to get over whatever issue this is but we are always willing to listen and give you whatever you need from us.'

'Thanks professor,' Greta said. She didn't really feel like the conversation had helped that much. It had just delayed her attempt to catch Rapture.

She turned from the professor and began to walk out of the classroom. As she walked out of the door she saw that none of her teammates were waiting for her. Of course, she hadn't told any of them to wait for her but it was a little disheartening to go through the confession in the classroom and then walk out into an empty hallway. Sighing she walked in the direction of her dorm. She might as well sit down and try not to think about her problems before her next class.


	11. Chapter Eleven: How To Make Amends Part

**Chapter** **Eleven** **:** **How To Make Amends Part** **Two** **:**

 **September** **25** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

After Grimm Studies had ended Greta had been called to stay behind and talk to the professor. Peter had of course listened to her unspoken order to go ahead and not wait for her. He had tried to keep an eye on Rapture but she had strode ahead of them all, practically shouldering other students out of her way and had then done her best to leave them as quickly as she could.

Now he felt a little lost. He looked at Aurora who gave him a look he assumed conveyed similar feelings. Team TEAL, who had left with them didn't look that different either though Tom and Lach seemed to be the only ones fully invested in the issue. Adelheid and Elizabeth simply sighed in frustration and switched to waiting for some kind of decision from their own teammates. Peter was sure that they would gladly do something else or accept being dismissed and left to their own business. Right now, he was quite sure he would do the same.

'I'm going to the music room,' Peter quickly said after letting out a small sigh. He saw Tom give him a shocked look.

'What are you talking about?' Tom shouted. 'What about Rapture? And Greta?'

'Greta's busy,' Peter replied. 'And as long as she's with the professor there's nothing we can do about Rapture. So I'm going to keep myself occupied until then. What about you Aurora?' he turned to his other teammate.

'There's some reading I need to do,' she replied. 'If Greta doesn't get out soon I'll probably try to catch Rapture myself.'

'You guys know she won't be that long right?' Lach asked. 'We could just wait for her here.'

Peter sighed softly and rubbed the bridge of his nose, exasperated with the issue. Two days of worrying about the issue had left him exhausted and by this point, with their original plan of attack in shambles, he just wanted to get in a little session of respite.

'I just want to get some time in for my practise,' Peter said.'There's no use hanging around waiting for Greta now that Rapture's gone. Anyway, we don't know how long she will be in there and we'll probably get in trouble if we wait here to long.'

He saw that Adelheid and Aurora agreed with him, neither of them fond of getting told off for loitering. Lach and Tom looked less pleased but nodded in agreement after a few seconds of silence and turned to leave. Elizabeth seemed to be completely uninterested and unconcerned, simply walking away with her team when it looked like Tom had decided to go somewhere else.

'I'll be heading to the library now,' Aurora said as they both watched TEAL go. 'I'll meet up with you at our next class.' With that she walked off in the direction of the library, leaving Peter alone in the corridor.

He gave one last glance at the classroom where he was sure he could faintly hear Greta and Professor Siog Senior talk and then headed off down the hall to the extracurricular classrooms. The department wasn't really one that was used for official lessons. It was more of a place where students and staff could practise hobbies or skills that might be more useful to a specific vocation. There were rooms set up to facilitate a wide variety of subjects from music to media and even electronics, all of which saw use from at least a couple of students a day.

The music room, like everything else in the academy, featured a bizarre combination of classical aesthetics and state of the art technology. The walls were decorated with old-fashioned wallpaper that was padded underneath so any noise in the room wouldn't disturb people outside. The ceiling, which was also insulated to muffle noise, had a plaster facade laid over it that evoked an opera house, though not a particularly lavish one. The room wasn't filled with instruments and equipment as there was still plenty of room to walk around and practise in but the collection was still considerable. String instruments, brass, woodwind, even electronic variants, Beacon Academy had stocked itself with a wide array of different musical instruments for any students needs though the budget to get more was supposedly not that high anymore.

Peter knew how to play most of them, at a very basic level anyway. When you sampled every form of instrument you rarely ended up specialising in one, especially when you have to devote your time to Huntsmen training. He never really knew why he kept switching his lessons but he had frustrated numerous tutors when they found out he had lost interest in playing what they were teaching him just after they had completed the foundation levels.

He headed over to a stack of woodwind instruments when he began to hear a series of chords. He recognised the sound as the tuning of a guitar and he immediately thought of Arthur Raconteur. It took barely a second for him to realise it couldn't possibly be the guitar-gunner from Team BAGE when he heard whoever was playing the instrument completely botch both the notes and the rhythm. Wincing, he resisted the urge to cover his ears and simply resorted to running his hands through his hair instead. Taking a deep breathe as the terrible rendition of some unrecognisable tune continued, he decided that confronting whoever was murdering that acoustic guitar would serve as a sufficient time-waster.

Peter strode across the room to a section that had been obscured by a tall piano and several racks of horns, trumpets and other brass instruments. As he rounded the corner he found himself in an alcove created by racks of guitars. There were acoustic, electronic and metal guitars of every kind laid out carefully on racks. In the centre of the alcove, sat on a stool was the cause of the disturbance.

A male student with broad shoulders and a noticeably muscular figure sat in the middle of the rather tight space. He was dressed in the school uniform as well, though he had loosened the tie, undone a couple of buttons and looked like he was trying to relax as he plucked at the acoustic guitar he held in his hands. What was most distinctive about him, however, was the mask he wore over the lower half of his face, covering his mouth and nose. It was box-like and black with straps wrapping around the back of his neck to secure it in place. Sections of the mask on either side of its bridge could be seen rhythmically rising and falling indicting that some kind of respirator was built into it. Peter swore he could actually hear the sound of heavy breathing coming from the mask whenever the other boy stumbled over the notes he was trying to play.

The boy looked up barely a second after Peter had entered the alcove. He continued to attempt to strum the guitar as he gave Peter a nod and grunt of acknowledgement before returning to his torturous playing.

'You know you're doing a terrible job,' Peter said, tired of listening to the excruciating rendition of whatever song the boy was trying to perform and too tired to try to be polite about it.

'I've heard that before,' the boy said in a deep, gruff voice that reverberated slightly thanks to the mask. He wasn't looking at Peter and continued plucking at the strings. Peter noticed the boy had very thick fingers with callouses that usually developed from those who primarily wielded guns. This was likely the reason why he was so slow and awkward in his playing.

'You know,' Peter began again, 'not to be rude but I don't think you've got the hands for that kind of guitar.'

'Oh I know,' the boy replied, making Peter pause. 'My brother dared me to have a go for at least a week though and I'm not going to back down to him.' The boy stopped playing, placed the guitar down in his lap and extended a hand. 'Jedd Nechten.'

'Peter,' Peter said as he stepped forward and shook Jedd's hand. 'Peter Hamlin.'

'Nice to meet you,' Jedd said amiably. 'I can't say I've seen you around though? Are you in the second year?'

'First year,' Peter replied. 'Are you in the second?'

'Yes I am,' Jedd said proudly, puffing up his chest as he did so. 'I'm the leader of Team JETT, the best of the sophomores.' Peter swore he could see the top of Jedd's cheeks rise under the mask in what he assumed was a smirk.

'Can't say I've heard of Team JETT,' Peter responded, smirking in response.

'Really?' Jedd asked, though his face revealed he wasn't really that surprised and was playing along. 'I guess we've just got to try harder then. The only thing worse than ruining a reputation is failing to broadcast it.'

'Huh,' Peter said, unsure of what to make of the older boy. 'Well,' he began, trying to get the conversation on some kind of track, 'I think you should invest in a pick. You haven't got the fingers for that kind of guitar.'

'Already have one,' Jedd immediately replied. 'Like I said, my brother talked me into trying this and I have to do it until the end of the week.'

'Oh, I see,' Peter said. He paused for a moment, looking around at the displays as Jedd returned to experimentally plucking at the strings again, trying harder to successfully carry whatever tune he was looking for.

'I've never really been a fan of guitars,' Peter began, getting Jedd's attention. 'I've always preferred woodwinds and brass more.'

'I've always been a strings-man,' Jedd said, resting the guitar back on his lap. 'It's been a hobby of mine since I was a kid.'

'Here's hoping it actually did you some good then,' Peter replied with a smirk. He was a little worried that he might offend the older boy with his choice of banter but he decided that it couldn't hurt. If he did upset him it wasn't likely they would ever run into one another again.

'You haven't heard me play _my_ guitar,' Jedd shot back with what Peter assumed was a joking sneer. 'So what exactly do you play?'

'Flutes, mostly,' Peter answered. 'They've always been my favourite and I have the fingers for it.' He raised his hands up and flexed his fingers as if he were displaying them to Jedd.

'Interesting,' Jedd said in response. 'You don't see many other students who go for something so…,' he paused as he tried to find the right words, 'small. So weak-seeming.'

'Weak-seeming,' Peter said in a more dangerous tone, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

'Well I don't think many of the boys at this place admit that they like being a flautist,' Jedd explained. 'Most people I've talked to in this place say they either want to be rock-stars or play something a little more prestigious like a piano, or a violin.'

'Well some people don't appreciate a real classic,' Peter said. 'Then again,' Peter added, 'I never really stuck through my lessons. I would go back and forth between instruments all the time.'

'You're a man with talent then?' Jedd asked.

'Well I certainly like to think so,' Peter replied, puffing up his chest. Whilst he hadn't hidden his tastes in music he never really talked about it with his teammates and enjoyed having a conversation with one of Beacon's rare few musicians.

'So what brings you here right now?' Jedd suddenly asked. 'Most students usually wait until classes are over before they hit these rooms.'

'I'm just looking for something to fill my free-time,' Peter replied, skirting around the real reason. 'There wasn't much else for me to do. Why are you here?'

'Trying to get that bet out of the way,' Jedd immediately answered. 'The sooner it's done the better. I'm tired of listening to the terrible noises I'm making.'

"Well I can certainly appreciate that," Peter thought. He now felt slightly awkward as he had no idea where to take the conversation.

He had come to the music room expecting it to be empty and free for him to relax and let his worries be drowned in the soothing beauty of song. He felt the need to kick himself for investigating as he was now locked in conversation with an older boy and had exhausted the conversation topics that did not concern his team troubles.

'Jedd!' a new voice suddenly shouted out. 'Jedd, are you done? I'm not hearing any bad playing.'

Peter turned to see a girl enter the room and stride purposefully over to the alcove he and Jedd were in. she stood at an average height with a slender, hourglass figure, dark brown skin and long, purposefully dishevelled platinum blonde hair. She walked with a sway to her hips that made her appear to strut as she moved and had a naturally haughty expression on her face that broadcast confidence. A thin circlet was wrapped halfway around her head, leaving a silver line along the middle of her forehead that held up thin ringlets, one on either side of her head. The accessory looked bizarre and were anyone but the self-assured girl wearing it they would probably look ridiculous.

'Ah Egeria,' Jedd said. 'I didn't think you would come to pick me up.'

Egeria snorted derisively as she finished walking up to the boy and loomed over him. 'Combat classes start in half an hour and we both know it takes forever to squeeze your fat ass into your armour so lets go.'

Jedd sighed and lifted himself from his seat with a grunt of discomfort. He slung the guitar over his shoulder and brushed his trousers, clearing them of dust. Peter felt a little bit more comfortable for the new girl's interruption. It had certainly helped break the awkward atmosphere that had been developing.

'Well I guess my time is up,' Jedd said to Peter. He then turned to the girl. 'Egeria, this is Peter Hamlin, one of the new meat. Peter,' he turned to look at Peter again, 'this is my partner Egeria Patch.'

'Pleasure to meet you,' Egeria said in a much softer tone. She still sounded self-assured but the faux-anger that she had spoken to Jedd with was gone.

'Likewise,' Peter said.

'Well, come on,' Egeria then said, immediately turning back to regard Jedd. 'What are you standing around for?'

'See you, Peter,' Jedd said. 'I come here all the time. Chances are we'll run into one another.'

'Well, goodbye,' Peter said pleasantly. He watched as the pair strode out of the room, returning it to silence.

When the two second years were gone Peter found himself back in silence. Thanks to the insulation and the heavy doors the air in the room felt heavy and thick. Without any distractions he tried to pick an instrument from the vast collection. He reached out for one of the flutes he had been about to pick before he went to investigate Jedd's playing but suddenly hesitated.

He didn't know why but he didn't feel like playing anything anymore. He felt strangely depressed after watching the pair of second years talk to one another. Sighing, Peter walked away from the rack of musical instruments and sat down on one of the stools with a huff. He let out a quiet, exasperated groan and put his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes and cheeks.

'What the hell is wrong with me?' he muttered to himself. He hadn't felt this confused in years and the sensation was unpleasant. He tried to find something to think about but his thoughts kept cycling back to the problem that had been hanging over the team's head for over a week, Rapture.

Peter couldn't say that he was as torn up about their faunus teammate's disappearance as Greta, or even Aurora but the tense atmosphere that had settled on the group had still gotten through to him. Like the others he tried to be proactive about the whole affair but it was difficult. Greta was the team leader and somewhat responsible for Rapture's well being and Aurora was the faunus girl's partner. He on the other hand was the teammate with the least connection to her and found he sometimes felt less dedication to solving whatever issue had divided them. He helped out, he did what he could, but he always discovered that when he thought hard about the problem he just couldn't think of a solution. That, in itself, was disconcerting to him.

Sighing heavily, he picked up his scroll and saw the time flicker onto the device as he looked at it. It read ten twenty three. Peter was both surprised at how quickly time had passed and frustrated that there was still another half an hour before he had to go to the combat class that had been scheduled for the day.

* * *

Aurora strode towards the day's combat classes alone. She had spent the past hour or so continuing the reading she had been doing for the past week. Though she still focused on her actual studies she had devoted much of her free time to the topic of faunus violence. After so many hours she practically knew the history of human-faunus racial issues inside and out. It had admittedly been hard applying what she now knew to her team's problem but she was sure she had finally figured something out.

It was all as clear as day to her now. Rapture was angry because the Red Fang were building up resentment against faunus. She had likely come from one of the numerous ghettos scattered around the lower residential districts. Those areas existed because of racial tensions which had only gotten worse in Vale since the Witch War due to faunus terrorists in the past and all the way up to the present. Seeing the attack take place must have reminded her what was happening to her people and Greta's unwillingness likely came off as some kind of racist sentiment. Rapture likely felt discriminated against by her own teammates which was why she had run away.

Aurora was sure that confronting Rapture, telling her that she herself, at the very least, didn't hate or genuinely fear her because of her heritage, would help. Whilst they had only known each other for a few weeks Aurora had learnt that Rapture was not uncivilized or barbaric like so many other faunus seemed to be. There was no reason to disassociate herself from the faunus girl and so she was going to do what she could to make amends. If she could calm her partner down then the team could begin to heal.

With this newfound resolve she had gone to the changing rooms where she kept Dark Majesty and a spare set of her Huntress outfit in her locker. She had changed as quickly as her elaborate clothing would allow, her mind constantly focused on making sure she would catch Rapture and get her to talk to her.

Aurora strode into the room and was surprised to see none of her teammates were waiting for her. Though she had no idea where they had gone after their last class, being content to leave them to their own devices so she could go and pursue her own, she had expected one of them, Peter at the very least, to have arrived before her. Seats were already occupied by students, many of whom were being joined by their teammates as they arrived. After barely a few weeks the class had divided up the room and designated which seats belonged to them and their teams. Like at virtually every school this new informal seating plan was virtually inviolable and no-one was willing to contest it.

Aurora went and sat at the row her team had been sitting in since their first combat class and took out her scroll. Since none of her teammates were here yet she couldn't do much other than try to keep herself occupied. She flicked idly through the news after opening up an interlink tab, skimming the articles disinterestedly.

She remained focused on her browsing, ignoring everything that was going on around her until she saw someone sit down in the seat next to her. She looked up, shutting her scroll as she did so and saw Peter was in the seat, dressed in his own Huntsmen outfit. He looked confused and slightly irritated but he did nod in greeting to her.

'Aurora,' he said in acknowledgement, his voice sounding uncharacteristically gruff.

'Peter,' she said in response. 'Where have you been?' she then asked, trying to fill the awkward silence that had descended on them. The last thing she wanted was for the sentiment within the team to get worse.

'At the music room,' Peter said, his voice sounding more controlled and upbeat again. He slipped his friendly mask back on and gave Aurora his usual small smile. 'I was just trying to pass the time before class. I ran into a second year team who are apparently famous. Or they they try to be. What about you?'

'I've been reading,' Aurora replied. 'I've also been thinking about Rapture.' She saw Peter tense a little. He had never been averse to the topic but the whole affair seemed to be getting under his skin.

'Oh?' he said, the single word sounding like a question. 'And what have you thought?'

'I'm going to get her to talk to me,' Aurora declared with finality, receiving a raised eyebrow from Peter. 'One way or another.'

'Well I certainly wish you luck,' Peter said, sounding sincere, 'but how do you expect to do that?'

'If she showed up to our morning class then she's going to come here,' Aurora explained. 'And when she does, I'm going to challenge her.'

'Challenge her?' Peter asked skeptically, his eyebrows raised. 'Are you sure you can beat her.'

'Yes,' Aurora replied, ignoring the slight against her abilities. 'I can beat her. I have to beat her because this is never going to stop if I don't force her to stop and actually talk to us again.' As she spoke her tone became more and more bitter as she let her frustration show through.

'Hey guys,' Greta suddenly said. Aurora turned and saw she was standing in the door and walking towards them. Though she was smiling Aurora saw that she looked rather tired.

'So,' Peter said as Greta walked over to their seat, drawing the word out as their leader sat herself down in the seat next to him. 'How was the talk with the professor?'

Greta took a moment to register his words as she settled into her seat and then sighed. She then fixed him with a withering glare that spoke of frustration and exhaustion.

'Tiring,' Great then answered, her glare melting away to be replaced with a more placid expression. She still looked annoyed but no longer appeared angry as well. 'Professor Siog wanted to know if I was alright and if there were any problems in our team. Then she gave me the usual talk. You know, the one about how hard it is to be in this school and that leaders have a lot to deal with? As if I didn't already know that.' She huffed and threw herself back in her seat theatrically with a groan.

'Well I've got a plan to help with our problem,' Aurora declared.

'Really?' Greta said excitedly, nearly snapping at her teammate as she almost leapt out of her seat. 'What have you got?'

Aurora hadn't expected Greta to react in such an extreme fashion. Then again, whatever plans their leader had initially held had likely been ruined by her sudden visit to the teacher.

'Well I'm going to challenge her to a bout in this class,' Aurora explained. 'Then if I win I'm going tot ell her to stay where she is and actually listen to us.'

'How are you going to get her to agree to that?' Peter asked, still looking and sounding sceptical.

'It's a surprise,' Aurora said with a smirk. She had a plan and a small part of her felt very pleased with itself for deciding to follow it.

'Really Aurora?' Peter said in exasperation. 'You've come up with a plan to deal with Rapture and you're not going to tell us because "it's a surprise"?'

'Just trust me,' Aurora replied. 'The fewer people that know what it is, the easier it will be to catch Rapture off guard. I know what I'm doing.'

'But you're the only one who knows the plan,' Greta pointed out, still sounding optimistic but also slightly confused.

'Exactly,' Aurora said. 'And that's why its going to work. Rapture won't see it coming.' The sinister smirk returned to her face as she ran over the plan in her head again. Peter and Greta simply sighed in frustration at her response.

'Should we be worried?' Aurora heard Peter whisper. She glanced to her side to see her two other teammates had brought their heads close together conspiratorially.

'I think we should trust her,' Greta replied. 'Its not like either of us have anything to work with anyway. Lets see how it goes.'

'Hi everyone,' a new voice, that of Tom Underhill, said as Team TEAL walked up to them. The other team walked over to their seats across from GRAP and sat down in them, Tom taking the seat next to the aisle. He immediately hung out of the side and addressed Greta. 'How was the talk with the professor?'

'The usual thing about stress and how hard it is being a leader,' Greta replied with a sigh.

'Well I can sympathise with that,' Tom replied somewhat flippantly. He then paused and gave Greta a more concerned look. 'Are you alright?'

'I'm fine,' Greta replied with a forced smile. 'Just tried.'

'Rapture's here,' Lach Boucanier suddenly said. Aurora looked at the other boy to find he was turned towards the door and, judging by the way he had positioned himself on his seat, he had been watching the area for a short while.

All three members of Team GRAP turned in their seats to see their faunus teammate enter the room. Aurora noticed that Rapture didn't look as annoyed as she had been and simply appeared tired, almost resigned even. Rapture looked over at the team's usual spot in the classroom and gave them a look of forced indifference. She then walked away, trying to find a spot in another area of the room.

Aurora chuckled as she watched her partner try and fail to find somewhere else to sit. Whilst there were empty seats every team had at least one member in position to tell the faunus girl that they were saving the seats for their partners and rebuffed her attempts to sit in their places. Eventually Rapture gave up and walked over to her team, the frustrated scowl back on her face.

"Is she really being so immature about this?" Aurora thought as her partner sat down in the seat next to her and promptly began to ignore everyone around her. "By every god, above _and_ below, this is childish."

The group remained quiet except for Greta who continued to chat with Tom, then Professor Smith walked in. The older man was still dressed in tweed though he now wore a dark red cravat instead of his usual bowtie. Aurora was always fascinated at how such a worn man could still express so much dignity, authority and, at times, energy.

'Alright class,' the professor said, 'we'll be moving on to the next stage of this class.' Murmurs echoed through the classroom, some nervous, some excited and some confused as he class processed what had just been said.

'You have all progressed very well,' Professor Smith continued, 'and you have all passed the early staged fights. I paired you all off by myself in order to assess your abilities but, whether through failure or success, you have all made it past that stage. Now I will call on only one of you and you will get to pick your opponent yourself.'

The murmurs returned as some students, usually the less capable ones, panicked at the prospect of being picked on by their stronger classmates. Aurora, on the other hand, grinned maliciously. She knew this was coming and had planned accordingly.

'Oh gods, I'm doomed,' Tom whispered loudly.

'Of course we're all aware that this system can be abused so I will still be monitoring your progress but this will still offer all of you a chance to get out of your comfort zones and test yourself as you see fit.' Professor Smith opened his scroll and flipped through several holographic screens. 'However,' his voice became very stern, 'if I do see any of you using this as a chance to bully anyone, I will see to it that you receive an appropriate punishment and I will get to choose what it will be.'

Aurora blanched at that declaration. She had expected the professor to do something to prevent abuse but she was worried how he might interpret her attempts to get Rapture to finally sit down and help fix the problem the team was going through. She hoped that she might get chances or something or an opportunity to explain herself after she was done. She couldn't give up the opportunity she had made for herself, she had planned too much on the fight she was going to stage.

'So its time to begin,' Professor Smith said. 'Aurora Basilikos please step onto the platform.'

"Okay, that is just too good to be true," Aurora thought as she got up, holding Dark Majesty ready. "Do they know? How could they know? And if they do, are they approving my plan?" She shook her head a little to clear it and stepped onto the raised stage at the centre of the room.

'Miss Basilikos,' Professor Smith said to her. 'Would you please pick an opponent.'

'I'd like to fight Rapture Brostein,' Aurora said immediately, fixing her partner with a stare. Rapture looked slightly surprised, then her a look of anger appeared on her face.

'A fight with your own teammate?' Professor Smith asked, sounding more intrigued than shocked. 'I can't say we see that many of those. Very well. Miss Brostein, please step onto the platform.'

Rapture got up from her seat and stalked down to the stage. Aurora glanced at her partner's wrists and saw she already had her bracelets on. Rapture flicked her wrists and the solid bands of silvery metal folded out into the familiar segmented gauntlets that Aurora knew Rapture was proficient in wielding. Not wasting any time, Rapture flexed her fingers and a trio of half-metre long knife-like claws shot out from the top of the gauntlets. Rapture then settled into a ready stance, her arms up in a guarded position and her legs spread out in a steady position.

'You fight until your Aura reaches the red,' Professor Smith reminded them. 'Begin when you're ready.'

'Rapture,' Aurora immediately said as the professor stepped back to let them start fighting.

'Yeah,' Rapture grunted out, bobbing on her feet, ready to leap forward but staying still. Aurora almost breathed a sigh of relief, glad that her partner had taken the bait.

'I want to make a deal with you,' Aurora said, her tone low. 'If I win I want you to stop running away from us, sit down and actually talk to us. I'm sick and tired of this spat dragging on like it has and I want it to end now. One way or another we are going to talk this out with one another.'

'And why should I agree to that?' Rapture replied, keeping her tone low. She looked confused and indignant and Aurora smirked as she prepared to level her ultimatum.

'Because if you don't,' Aurora began, 'I'm going to make your little tantrum public knowledge, to everyone. Classmates, older students, professors, I'll tell everyone. I mean I can't speak for you but I'm pretty sure you don't want everyone knowing the little details about the shouting last week. I do wonder what people would think of you after that.'

Aurora hoped that Rapture would give in to her bluff. She didn't want to have to actually go up to every person she could find and awkwardly detail the specifics of their fight. Aurora wasn't exactly sure she could even do it if she really had to.

'You're a real bitch, Aurora,' Rapture ground out through grit teeth. She then looked away and at the rest of the classroom who all looked rather confused that the fight hadn't begun yet. Rapture grimaced for a moment and then looked back at her partner, a disgusted expression on her face. 'Fine.'

'Excellent,' Aurora replied with a grin and then she span Dark Majesty around and aimed it at Rapture.

She began the battle immediately, firing a Dust-round at her partner. Rapture ducked to the side, dodging the round and rolling before jumping to her feet in a more loose stance. The Dust-round shot at the students across from Aurora and then detonated harmlessly on the invisible barrier that had come up shortly after the professor gave the order to begin fighting. The round went off with a loud bang and generated a relatively large cloud of fire and force for such a small shot. Rapture looked at the dissipating dust cloud with shock and then turned to Aurora, an incredulous expression on her face.

'What the hell was that?!' Rapture shouted.

High impact fire Dust-round,' Aurora replied. 'I used these on the Malecorn during Initiation.'

'And you're shooting me with those?' Rapture snapped. 'What the hell is wrong with you?'

'I just want to finish this quickly,' Aurora replied and then she lined up another shot and, in one swift movement, fired.

Rapture didn't move from her position and instead ran forward, her gauntlet's held up in front of her face. The shot impacted on her gauntlets and went off. The moment it hit her, the faunus girl braced herself, bowing her legs slightly and shutting her eyes. She slid back a little but kept her stance and weathered the small explosion. The second she had stopped sliding back she charged forward, her left arm raised to protect herself and her right swinging in a vicious hook.

Aurora panicked and jumped back just as Rapture reached her. The powerful hook clipped her and threw her off, causing her to stumble. Rapture leapt forward again, roaring viciously and slammed her left-hand fist into Aurora's stomach, winding her and sending her flying back to violently bounce off of the barrier. Aurora slammed onto the floor and tried to get back up only for Rapture to kick her hard in the stomach. The dark-skinned girl flew through the air a few feet and collided with the barrier again.

'Is this going quickly enough for you?' Rapture snarled as Aurora lay on the ground, forced into a sitting position by the barrier at her back.

Aurora sneered and readied Dark Majesty as Rapture closed in on her. With an angry screech Aurora swung the sniper rifle and smacked the barrel into the side of Rapture's head. Stunned, the faunus girl took a step back and in that moment Aurora aimed and shot a Dust-round into her partner's face. Rapture went flying as she failed to block or dodge the shot and took it in her gut. Aurora took a moment to see her Aura was still in the green but barely. She wasn't an endurance fighter and her opponent was. The fact that Rapture's own Aura was a much healthier green showed her that she would need to work much harder to defeat her.

Barely wasting a second, Aurora lined up her next shot and fired at her partner. Rapture, still stunned by the previous shot, tried to guard against it but still stumbled from the impact and detonation. Aurora knew she had to keep her distance from her partner. Whilst Dark Majesty was an efficient weapon in its glaive form Aurora knew she wasn't proficient enough in using it to face off against the melee oriented faunus girl.

"Come on," Aurora thought. "Stay down."

Rapture stood up on slightly shaky legs and brought her fists up again. Surprisingly Rapture didn't take a guard position, instead keeping her arms ready to strike. Aurora didn't waste the opportunity and fired at her partner. As the round shot at her, Rapture immediately swung her right fist forward and hit the round, detonating it just in front of her. The high impact round exploded but Rapture didn't move despite the force of the detonation.

Aurora prepared to line up her shot but a sudden, loud roar erupted from Rapture, dissipating the smoke of the Dust that had exploded in front of her. Aurora felt a blast of force hit her and, looking up despite the blast wave pressing against her, saw it was coming from Rapture. Her partner had her mouth wide open and was letting out a deafening noise that seemed to form a cone of translucent energy that was blasting into her. Aurora tried to brace herself but she was swept off her feet and fell to the floor, bouncing several times and then slamming into the barrier again.

Aurora tried to get back on her feet, using her sniper-rifle to help push herself back up only to find Rapture barrelling towards her. The crocodile faunus girl slammed a left hook into Aurora's stomach, following it with a right uppercut. Aurora was thrown back into the barrier and pinned as Rapture proceeded to pummel her over and over. Aurora couldn't see the screen but she knew her Aura was steadily trickling down as she received one vicious punch after another.

Panicking, Aurora prepared to use her semblance. She didn't like to use it, seeing it as her trumpcard, and was annoyed that the battle had gotten so out of hand. Struggling to concentrate as Rapture beat her, she began to stir the air. Her semblance was the ability to manipulate the currents of the air, moving or stilling them as she wished, increasing or decreasing pressure and even raising or reducing the temperature and humidity. At its strongest she had been able to conjure up small cyclones or spread frost over the ground in summer but it was a difficult ability to use. Right now, however, she just needed something more simple.

It took several seconds but they were painfully slow as she tried to compress the air and increase the pressure. Finally, just as Rapture was about to deliver another powerful right hook, an angry snarl on her face, Aurora released the burst of air. A wall of force struck Rapture and pushed her back. In a single fluid motion, Aurora put out her arm, directing her semblance in the gesture and cooled the moisture in the air. A patch of ice formed immediately behind Rapture and the moment she stepped on it she slipped. The faunus girl fell to the ground with a loud thud and a grunt of discomfort. Trying not to wobble, Aurora picked her weapon back up and fired.

Aurora was sure she saw the crowd of spectating students wince as she fired one shot after another at her downed partner. The only times she looked away from Rapture was when she was checking her Aura levels. Rapture's bar was dropping quickly as the Dust-rounds mercilessly hit her. Eventually the bar turned red and a loud buzzer sounded.

'Alright that's enough,' Professor Smith said.

Aurora stumbled forward, propping herself up with Dark Majesty. She sighed heavily and then straightened up again. She checked her Aura levels and saw it was in the lower yellow ribbon, barely just above the upper red level. Rapture, on the other hand, was struggling to lift herself off of the floor of the ring.

Sighing heavily, Aurora walked over to her partner and stood over her. She was tempted to loom over Rapture, maybe even throw in some unspoken gloating. It didn't even take her an instant to decide that such actions would only make the situation worse. Instead she leant forward and offered Rapture her hand.

'Are you alright?' she asked her partner.

'Fine,' Rapture grunted back.

'That's good to hear,' Aurora replied. 'We'll talk after class.'

Rapture scowled but nodded anyway and took Aurora's hand. With a grunt of exertion Aurora pulled her partner back onto her feet and then steadied herself. She felt quite exhausted and dishevelled by the fight. She had seen how her partner hit Grimm, targets and other students in class but this was the first time she had received hits from the faunus girl and they had been devastatingly powerful. The amount of times she had been winded by Rapture left her stomach and her lungs a little sore and she knew she would be taking a good, long rest after class.

'Now I warned you both beforehand about what I would do if I found either of you using these matches as an excuse to bully someone,' Professor Smith said as they walked off the stage. The two of them looked up at him, Aurora suddenly feeling very nervous. 'I don't know what you did but I'm not stupid. I'm well aware of your team's recent troubles and I want to say that, it. Stops. Now!' Aurora and Rapture both shrank back from a glare that held an immense amount of anger for such a controlled expression.

'I will not have your own fights and disagreements disrupt lessons,' the professor continued. 'If you want to squabble like children then you can do that in the training rings but not in my classes. Now I have half a mind to keep you behind and then have you attend a series of detentions for intentionally breaking the rules I set down but I'm going to give you one last chance. You get over whatever is causing this or I won't go so easy on you.'

'Yes sir,' Aurora said, hearing Rapture say the exact same thing. She let out a small sigh of relief at avoiding serious punishment but tried not to be too obvious about it.

'Alright then,' Professor Smith said, accepting their compliant replies. 'Get back to your seats.'

Aurora hurried back to her seat, sitting down with as much dignity as she could spare. The professor was already calling out the next student to pick their opponent. Rapture slumped back into her own seat, exhausted and slightly bruised from the fight. The faunus girl was scowling still but she seemed to be lacking the energy to maintain the angry sulk she had exhibited earlier.

'Peter,' Aurora whispered, leaning in to the boy next to her. 'Tell Greta to wait with us when class is over. I got Rapture to stay still and speak with us.'

'Right,' Peter said in understanding. He then leaned away to whisper the message to his partner.

Aurora settled down in her seat, trying not to smirk in victory. She had gambled, won and escaped the punishment that should have been given to her for her actions. Sure she had blackmailed and pummelled her partner to do so but her father had always said that "needs must when devils drive." with any luck Rapture would forgive her for what she had done after they had talked the horrendous debacle that had ruined their week out and returned to getting on with their lives. It would soothe everyone's nerves, even Rapture's, to sort this thing out and move on from it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** With any luck we'll be wrapping up the first phase of the second arc. One thing I've been trying to do is showcase that our characters are teenagers and, like teenagers, aren't really the most emotionally mature people. Combine that with general awkwardness, ingrained prejudices, neuroses and a cultural attitude that breeds warrior mentalities and you have an escalating emotional dilemma. With any luck the worst of it will soon be over but that doesn't mean this is the end of the issue. There is further to go.


	12. Chapter Twelve: How To Make Amends Part

**Chapter** **Twelve** **:** **How To Make Amends Part** **T** **hree** **:**

 **September** **2** **6** **th** **1462 of the Vytali Calendar:**

Greta had dreaded the end of combat class. Whilst trying not to look inattentive so as not to repeat the chat she had with Professor Siog Senior, she had been panicking on the inside. Aurora had managed to set something up with Rapture and now, finally, they would get to talk. Despite this being what she wanted, Greta was terrified. She hadn't talked with Rapture since last Friday and that had been a horribly botched apology that had ended with her being shouted at for reasons she still didn't understand. What she was afraid of was a repeat of that incident which would result in her faunus teammate disappearing again.

"Why did she have to do that?" thought sourly. "I didn't even do anything wrong. I was apologising. Why did she have to go crazy at me? It's not like I didn't care about the attack. I was there! I was a victim!" She frowned as she once again pondered on the reasons behind their fight. "The police were right there dealing with. We didn't have to go and do crime-fighting. We aren't supposed to."

She had her scroll projecting a digital clock in front of her that she watched carefully, counting down the minutes to the end of class. When the clock hit the hour a bell rang and Professor Smith called the lesson to an end. The students immediately began packing their things away. Very few people needed textbooks in combat class but most of the class had learnt that it always paid to make notes.

"Well," she thought with a little trepidation. "It's time to do this."

She stood up and pocketed her scroll, seeing Peter and Aurora were already standing and waiting for her. Rapture, miraculously, was also standing by them though she was scowling. Greta couldn't help but notice that Rapture looked incredibly tired, like the fight had deflated her completely. She was struggling to keep up the expression of defiant anger on her face and her shoulders were slumped.

'Hi, Rapture,' Greta said. She was flanked by both Peter and Aurora and was worried about what a sight would present to their errant teammate. 'Um, are you alright.'

'I'm okay,' Rapture mumbled, looking her in the eyes.

'Uh, we should go back to the dorm,' Greta suggested. 'It'll be easier to talk there.'

'Sounds good,' Rapture replied. Greta noticed that she looked uncomfortable talking in the classroom, especially since several students were watching them.

The four of them walked back to their dorm immediately, Greta apologising to Team TEAL when they asked if she wanted to hang out after class. The trip was awkward and Greta felt like it was taking forever for them to cross the courtyard back to the dorms. Every member of her team looked as uncomfortable as she did, especially Rapture who looked like she was desperate to be anywhere other than where she currently was.

Greta was sure that they had sped up once they reached the dorms and had decided to take the stairs once they saw the elevator to the next floor already had a queue waiting in front of it. They hurried up to their door and Greta grabbed the knob, unlocking it and letting them into their room. The moment they stepped in Great shut the door and looked around for a seat.

Rapture had already gone over to her bed and sat down on it. She looked tired and resigned by this point as well as a little nervous. Aurora sat on her own bed behind the faunus girl and looked cautious. Greta remembered how smug her teammate had been during class but that confidence and self-assurance seemed to have bled away now that they were all about to have the talk. Peter was leaning by the door and despite his best efforts to look nonchalant he seemed to be very concerned. Sighing, Greta went over to the desk in their room and sat in one of the seats, turning it to face Rapture.

'Okay,' she began and then paused, swallowing heavily as she tried to think of a good way of starting the conversation.

'Okay,' she started again. 'It's been a difficult weekend for all of us.'

"The fuck was that?" she immediately thought, lamenting her completely awkward choice of conversation starter.

'I mean we're all aware of the big problem that's been going on since last Friday,' she started once again. 'It's been really hard to talk about and we've had to do some pretty extreme things to get here.' Rapture scowled and threw a harsh look at Aurora who turned her head to one side. 'I mean, uh,' Greta floundered again, not knowing where she was going with her sentences, 'Uhhh, this is awkward.'

'Rapture,' Aurora interrupted, getting everyone's attention. 'We want to know what was wrong. Why did you blow up at Greta like that?'

'You really don't get it do you?' Rapture grumbled, finally speaking up.

'We get that it's about the Red Fang,' Aurora interjected. 'We all saw you get angry at Greta after the attack. You also made it very clear last week that you didn't like her decision.'

'What did you expect me to do?' Greta mumbled, just loudly enough to get their attention. 'Uh,' she panicked, realising they had heard her.

'I thought I told you last week,' Rapture dead-panned. 'We could've helped them out. We could've done something to find out where the Red Fang were operating. We could've done actual Huntress jobs. But _you_ decided to tuck your tail between your legs and skulk back to the dorm.'

Greta felt indignant now. She had heard this before on Friday and now she was rather tired of Rapture's antagonism.

'How do you expect us to find where the Red Fang are?' Greta snapped. 'The police have been looking for them for years and haven't found their hideout.'

'The Red Fang haven't set a bomb off in years,' Rapture shot back. 'Now the police are actually looking for them.'

Greta was about to open her mouth again when Peter interrupted. 'Why are you so concerned with getting to the Red Fang?' He sounded calm, almost casually curious as he spoke but when Greta turned to look at him she saw a frown on his face.

'Do I really need to explain why?' Rapture said, glaring at Peter. 'They're criminals. One of them murdered dozens in front of us. He tried to kill Greta. I don't get why you three didn't want to get back at them.'

'Because we're not supposed to,' Peter snapped back. Greta tried to open her mouth to say something but her partner continued. 'We're students you know? What makes you think we could track down a criminal organisation that's escaped the police for years.'

'Trainees are allowed to help the police,' Rapture said sullenly. 'And what makes you think we wouldn't be able to do anything?'

'Oh come on Rapture, were freshmen,' Peter groaned. 'We haven't even been here a month yet. How would we track down the Red Fang. Our only lead was a man who blew himself up.'

'Both of you stop it!' Greta hissed, thoroughly annoyed with the two of them. 'We're not getting anywhere. Rapture,' she turned to her teammate who was now looking very defensive, 'I get why you're angry with me. I'm sorry I didn't want to help the police but I didn't think we could do anything.'

'No,' Rapture interrupted bitterly. 'You just couldn't be bothered.'

Greta grimaced and then threw her head in her hands, groaning heavily. "We're getting nowhere," she thought in exasperation and despair. "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

'Rapture,' Aurora suddenly said, getting everyone's attention again. Greta pulled her head out of her hands as she looked at what the dark-skinned girl was going to say, hoping she had some kind of solution. 'Are you upset because of what the Red Fang did to us or what they're doing to your people?' She sounded like she was offering Rapture two different options to answering her question and there was a self-assuredness in the way she spoke.

'My people?' Rapture said, her tone shifting from anger to a sardonic tone.

'What?' Aurora asked, sounding indignant at the sarcastic tone but also slightly surprised.

'What does any of this have to do with " _my people?_ "' Rapture snapped.

'Oh come on,' Aurora said in response. 'The Red Fang help fuel discrimination against faunus. It was obvious that you wanted to stop them so that they stop ruining the image of the faunus rights movement. You were complaining about them after the attack and you got upset at Greta for refusing to do anything about them. What else are we supposed to think?'

'How the hell did you think that was what I was annoyed about?' Rapture replied, sounding both angry and confused. 'I couldn't care less about the faunus rights movement. There isn't even one anymore. The only people who go on about faunus solidarity,' she said the last two words in a bitingly mocking tone, 'where I'm from are either gangsters or trying to get something out of me. I don't give a fuck about those people or their phony message.'

'What?' Aurora asked, dumbfounded. Greta was surprised to see how shocked her teammate was at Rapture's declaration. Aurora looked like she was struggling to find something to say.

'I wasn't angry because of faunus rights,' Rapture said, now sounding calm but still bitter. 'I was angry because I wanted to help people and none of you backed me up. Hell, Greta ordered us, ordered me, to back off.'

'Really?' Greta asked. She was confused by some of the things Rapture had said but the last bit had shaken her.

'I thought I made that clear last week,' Rapture said sullenly, turning to glare at Greta. 'I wanted to actually make a difference in Vale. It's not like I don't notice the way people look at me. If I prove I'm a proper Huntress that can actually help them then there's a chance that I can change their minds, about me anyway.'

'I…, I'm sorry,' Greta said cautiously. She genuinely felt remorseful but she was also wary. The last time she had said those words Rapture had taken it the wrong way. 'I…, I didn't know.'

Rapture looked at Greta's face and faltered. She sat still, her face locked in a grimace of insecurity and then she groaned and threw her head in her hands. Everyone watched her as she sat there for several seconds, muttering to herself.

'Of course you didn't know,' Rapture said, her head still lowered into her hands. 'I never tell anyone this. I try not to let it get to me. It's just… the attack really got to me and I just felt so angry after that. I…, I…, I just don't know.'

'I get it,' Peter suddenly said, sympathy in his tone. Both Greta and Rapture looked up at him to see he had an unsure frown as well, his arms folded over his chest. 'The attack messed us all up quite a bit. You probably noticed, but me and Greta had our own fight after that day.' Greta twitched uncomfortably as she remembered the short but over-exaggerated and awkward period of 'silent treatment' that the two of them had subjected one another to earlier in the week.

The room fell into silence again as everyone sat and thought. Greta felt incredibly uncomfortable as she saw all of her teammates struggle to articulate what they wanted to say. It was as if every one of them had been thrown off course by what Peter had said.

"Gods above what's wrong with me?" Greta thought as she tried to wrack her brain for something.

'Rapture' Greta said before sighing again. She felt completely exhausted after a week of worry and stress. 'I just wanted to say, I'm sorry…, again.'

'Yeah,' Rapture said, looking almost as tired as Greta felt. Greta realised that the faunus girl probably felt as bad as she did. 'I know. And I'm sorry too. I was angry, I really was but I'd been dragging this out after Saturday. I'm just…, too damn tired to keep it up now.'

'I understand,' Greta said, she hesitated before continuing, worried that what she was about to say might ruin whatever goodwill, or acceptance, that they had all managed to build up. 'I just want to know one thing. Are we good now?'

Rapture looked at her, an inscrutable gaze boring out of the faunus' eyes and into Greta's. She then turned to glance at Peter who unfolded his arms and looked contrite. Aurora winced slightly when Rapture looked at her and seemed to be struggling to look her partner in the eye. Rapture then turned to look back at Greta, a strange look of resignation on her face.

'We're good,' she finally said with a sigh. 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let this get to me so much.'

'Don't say that,' Greta immediately interrupted. 'Trying to do that is what got us in this mess.' Greta put her hands on top of her head as she tried to think of the right way to phrase what she now wanted to say. 'I just want us to talk with each other more. I don't mean that we have to tell everyone everything,' she quickly added as a few uncomfortable looks were made and exchanged, 'I just don't want us to keep bottling everything up until we explode.'

'I can get behind that,' Peter immediately said, stepping away from the door and sitting down on his own bed.

'Agreed,' Aurora added. 'Oh, by the way,' she then added, looking to her partner, 'um, sorry for going so hard on you earlier.'

'It's alright,' Rapture said, tiredly waving her hand to dismiss Aurora's concerns. 'It was a training bout anyway.' She then grinned maliciously. 'I will get you back for using Grimm-killer rounds on me though.'

'Oh,' Aurora said, surprised by Rapture's sudden change in demeanour. 'Um, alright then.'

Greta sighed in relief though a part of her knew this wasn't really the end of the problem. At the very least things appeared to be improving and she could live with that. If she was lucky they would all get over this quickly and move on.

'I'm really tired now guys,' Rapture said before Greta could open her mouth. 'I'm gonna take a shower and lie down for a while. I'll probably see you guys for dinner later.'

'You sure?' Aurora asked, now getting off of her bed and standing close to Rapture.

'Yeah,' Rapture replied, waving Aurora's concern away. 'Don't worry about it. I just need to sleep off the explosive rounds you shot me with.' Rapture grinned at Aurora who chuckled awkwardly, her hand covering her mouth in a dainty fashion. Greta had seen Aurora do the gesture often and she could tell that, this time, it was rather forced.

"Oh gods I'm gonna have to keep doing this aren't I?" she lamented inside her head. She too was exhausted from the entire, week-long affair and just wanted to end it.

'Alright then,' Greta finally said. 'We'll talk to you later. I'm going to the CCT, see if there's any movies worth downloading.'

'I think I'll join you if that's alright,' Peter chimed in, sounding much more enthusiastic.

'Alright,' Greta said, also perking up a little. 'Aurora? How about you?'

'I think I will stay, thank you,' Aurora said after a second of thought. She then lay back on her own bed and took out her scroll, opening it and bringing up the interlink.

'Right,' Greta said, satisfied with the answer. 'We'll see you all later then.'

'Goodbye,' Aurora replied, Rapture grunting her own farewell.

Feeling a lot more confident, Greta walked out of their room, Peter by her side. Despite some misgivings over the situation Greta was happy with the way things had gone. She had apologised to Rapture, their team was beginning to mend ties and she had one less thing on her list of concerns. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of her chest, a weight that had been pressing down on her for most of the week.

'So,' Peter said as they walked down the corridor, 'what film are we getting?'

'I'm not sure,' Greta replied. She hadn't really thought of what to look for. "I really just wanted to get out of the room and give Rapture some space," she thought to herself. "What should I try to get?"

'Uh,' Greta said as she tried to think of something. 'You know what. Rapture likes horror doesn't she? Let's get something like that?'

'Really,' Peter asked, looking sceptical. 'Isn't horror really overrated though? Besides, we face actual monsters. What kind of appeal do fake monsters have?'

'I don't know but Rapture likes them,' Greta replied. 'Let's do something nice for her.'

'Well I can't argue with that statement,' Peter said, smiling a little. 'Let's try to get something good though.'

Greta nodded, giving her partner a small chuckle as well as they walked out of the dorm. Vale's primary Cross-Continental Transit relay station was situated in the Beacon Tower, the central and largest structure in the academy. The Witch War had exposed the vulnerabilities of setting up such a vital piece of equipment in such an obvious location but the advantages that it presented, along with the limitations of the technology, had forced Vale's hand. There were, of course, back up transmitters and redundancies set up in more fortified locations elsewhere in the kingdom, both within and without its official borders to prevent a total communication blackout should Beacon ever be compromised again. The cost was immense but the enhanced signals had stimulated new business growth in the peripheries of the kingdom and so most of Vale's economists had continued to support the massive network.

Since her enrolment Greta found that having the foci of the entire kingdom's communication network right next-door to her dorm was very advantageous. Thanks to the signal boosts searching the interlink was a lot faster and easier which had helped in her studies. There was also the reduced download time whenever she wanted to grab something off of the interlink as well and now she was going to use that to get her hands on a movie for the evening. She didn't normally go for a high quality download when she was watching videos on the interlink, preferring the free streams that cheaper, or free, sites supported – often illegally – but today was special and worth a few lien.

Walking into the Beacon Tower, they found themselves in the main reception of the library. They walked up to the main elevator that was situated within a large pillar in the centre of the large room. They stepped into the elevator with a large group of other students and waited to arrive at their floor.

Whilst Beacon was the primary CCT relay in Vale it wasn't the official main terminal. That was based in Vale Proper and was heavily protected as well as it contained the main servers and a vast archive of saved data. Beacon's terminal was no less impressive, however and just as advanced. Lines of holographic monitors stretched across the large cylindrical room, most of them occupied by students. Most of the occupants were messaging through the terminals, talking with people transmitted on the holographic screens that were projected in front of them. Like all the other large rooms in the school the ceiling was tall and vaulted, shimmering lines of optic nano-fibres climbing up the walls in silvery streaks. Overall the CCT station did not share the neo-gothic and semi-modern hybrid appearance of the rest of the academy and instead seemed to evoke a more generic "modern" aesthetic.

'So,' Peter said. 'Let's find a terminal then.'

'Right' Greta replied as she scanned the room. She could tell that just standing near the elevator and waiting for a terminal to free up in front of her wouldn't work so she tried to find an area that looked like it would have at least one free screen.

'Over there,' she said as she spied several empty seats over near the right-hand corner of the rows of terminals. She then set off towards the space she had pointed out, Peter striding after her.

The two of them found a seat that was empty and Greta sat down in it, Peter hovering over her expectantly. Greta logged in her student ID and lit one of the holographic screens up. It barely took an instant for Greta to bring the interlink up and begin browsing. Typing in a general search for movie sites, she went for the first option and scrolled down the genre options until she found horror and selected it.

'So do you know any good ones?' Greta asked Peter as she slowly scrolled down a list of movies.

'Ummm, well, not really,' Peter admitted as he watched over her shoulder. 'Only the really popular ones. And some that are supposed to be classics but nothing new.'

'We'll check the reviews then,' Greta conceded as she scanned over several titles.

'How about this one?' she asked, looking at an entry that read "Blood Ties." 'It has a four out of five star ranking. That's got to be a plus.'

'Let's see what it's about first,' Peter suggested as he leaned in and peered at the blurb written next to the ratings.

'Okay,' Greta agreed. 'Let's see. Five friends go into the woods outside the kingdom for a getaway to their friends new cabin, yadda yadda, there they stumble upon, okay, awaken something, alright. Looks good to me. I think Rapture'll like it.'

'I don't know,' Peter said, pulling away from the screen. 'It sounds rather generic.'

'It doesn't mean it'll be bad though,' Greta pointed out. 'It got a good rating so there's got to be something special about it.' she leaned forward, her hand reaching out to select the title and prepare it for downloading.

'If you say so,' Peter replied as Greta tapped the screen and then filled in her details in order to pay for it. She also put in her student number when she noticed the site offered discounts to the Huntsmen academies.

'Come on,' Greta said as she finished. 'How bad could it be.'

* * *

"Gods help me this is a disaster," Greta thought in despair as laughter echoed through her room.

The evening had started promisingly. Rapture had felt a lot better after her rest and they had all gone to dinner, meeting with Team TEAL and all chatting amicably. Greta had thought about inviting their friends but decided that since this movie was supposed to help her team heal it was better that they make it an exclusive event.

They had managed to get their hands on snacks and bought some drinks at a shop that was attached to the campus and returned to their dorm. Rapture had actually been rather enthusiastic about the gift they had gotten her and happily agreed to take part in the evening event. Rapture had never heard of the film that Greta had gotten her but seemed to be grateful for the present and the sincerity of the apology that Greta was conveying through the offer. They had all sat down in their dorm, Peter having found a projection function on their scrolls that allowed them to set up a much larger display screen in their rooms. Whilst the quality hadn't been brilliant it was a lot more convenient than trying to stake out the dorm's common room.

The movie had then started and after about ten minutes everything had begun to unravel. Everyone in the room, including Greta who wasn't exactly a movie aficionado had cringed at the characters, the dialogue and the awful interactions. The acting varied from mediocre to bad though Greta couldn't tell if that was because of genuine bad performances or simply the drag factor of the horrible script.

When the plot, if it could be called that, kicked in then things had begun to pick up. Of course the monster, which turned out to be some kind of ghost, was summoned to the cabin by the cast's phenomenal stupidity but the entire team had stuck through the first act, waiting to see if it would improve.

It was after the first few deaths, when the increasingly unlikeable characters had started to turn on one another and prove that they could, in fact, become even more reprehensible, that things changed. Peter had started making snide comments, often throwing in his own interpretations of the characters' thought processes and had started to giggle whenever a particularly cliché action was made on screen. It had been rather annoying at first but eventually Aurora joined in, laughing alongside him and whispering her own digs at the movie to Peter. Rapture had eventually chuckled but she mostly remained quiet, grimacing at the awful film in front of her and grinning whenever a particularly funny comment was made.

'Greta,' Rapture suddenly said as one of the annoying teens was graphically dismembered by the monster, his sides ripped open in a gratuitous display of gore.

'Uh, yes,' Greta replied, trying to ignore the faint memories of the Red Fang attack when she saw the violence.

'Did you know anything about this movie before you downloaded it?' Rapture asked, snorting with derision when another character found the previous victim's remains and gave a terrible, shocked performance.

'Uh, well, no,' she admitted. 'But the website gave it a good rating.'

'I think those are customer ratings,' Rapture said, just in time for the characters on screen to give another scream of terror and begin a chaotic, camera-shaking chase scene.

'What?' Greta said dumbly, barely audible over the cacophony.

'The ratings on those sites are usually given by customers, not critics,' Rapture replied with a small grin and a chuckle. 'And the ratings are usually given by the kinds of people who like movies like this.'

'There are people who actually like this?' Greta asked incredulously. She couldn't, for the life of her, understand how anyone could like this train-wreck, at least unironically since the cackles coming from Peter and Aurora showed that they were enjoying it in their own way.

'Yeah,' Rapture replied in a matter of fact fashion. She then noticed that Greta was looking past her and turned around to see she was actually looking at their respective partners. 'Oh, I get it. Also, yes, there are people who actually _like_ -like this movie and don't just watch it to make fun of it.'

'Weird,' Greta said, unsure of what else she could really say. 'So, uh, I'm sorry about picking this one. I wanted to get you something good.'

'Don't worry,' Rapture said with a small smile and a dismissive wave of her hand. 'This isn't actually that bad.'

'Okay, okay,' Peter said loudly as the movie depicted one of the heroines alone in a dark room, the music having quieted down to nothing. 'Let's see if we can countdown to the next jump scare. Right, five, four, three, two,' The moment he was about to say one a hand grabbed the woman on the screen and a loud music sting went off.

'Got it in one,' Aurora declared, cackling with glee as the monster proceeded to stab the girl repeatedly with her hand. 'Gods this is predictable.'

'And how,' Rapture deadpanned, a grin on her face. 'I bet five lien that they kill the monster only for it to reappear at the end.'

'Oh no,' Greta said. 'I don't like these kinds of movies but even I know they _always_ do that. I'm not losing any more of my money over this.'

'Damn,' Rapture muttered, though the grin on her face revealed that she didn't really care. She then settled back to watch the climax, laughing along with the others whenever a comment was made.

"I guess this isn't bad," Greta thought as she relaxed again. Rapture was smiling again and the atmosphere was casual and even positive. She liked the way things had turned out, despite the slight hiccups along the way. Finally things were going to get better.

* * *

 _Jaune looked down the cliff that overlooked the Emerald Forest and felt his innards squirm at the sight. Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch stood in front of him, their stern faces showing their disapproval as their cold eyes bored into him. They knew he was a fraud, they knew he didn't belong and now they were judging him and preparing to pass a sentence._

' _Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path,' Professor Ozpin said as he looked over the line-up of prospective students, 'or you will die.' As he finished the familiar statement he looked pointedly at Jaune and glared._

 _Jaune tried to take a step back but found his feet were stuck to the plate under him. He tried to turn but found he couldn't move his body. He was able to twist around to his left and saw his friends all lined up in a row, the same metallic plates under their feet. They were all looking back at him, expressions of mocking derision or loathing on their faces as they glared at him. The entire world seemed to grow cold and grey as he felt the hostility that was all around him._

' _Wait,' Jaune said, not understanding what was happening to him. 'What's going on? What are you doing'_

' _Beacon is a prestigious academy that only accepts the finest potential students,' Professor Ozpin explained, continuing to glare at Jaune. 'A place that does not appreciate liars, or frauds.'_

 _Jaune froze up at the headmaster's words. "He knows," Jaune thought. "He knows."_

' _That's why we test you all,' Professor Ozpin continued, 'to make sure that you are what you claim to be.'_

 _There was barely a moment's pause as suddenly Jaune found himself flying. He didn't even know when the ground had catapulted him into the air but he was no longer on the cliff's edge, the wind rocketing past him painfully. He looked back and saw, despite the distance, that he could make out the angry glares of everyone left behind. His friends were all looking at him, the hate-filled expressions still on their face. Ruby, Nora, Ren, Sun, John, Randall, an endless parade of familiar faces that all shared the same utter contempt and loathing for him._

' _Help me!' he shouted as the forest flew past beneath him. He could see the trees getting closer and tried to regain control of his fall. His attempts to flail into a favourable position failed utterly as the air seemed to resist him. 'Someone, anyone, help me!'_

 _A second later he was pinned to a tree and hanging from the collar of his top. He looked to see that his shirt and hoodie had been impaled by a red and gold javelin._

" _Milo," Jaune thought the name filling him with dread. The moment he said it the spear was ripped out of the tree and back into the trees by an invisible force. Jaune fell, hitting the ground hard and winding him._

 _Jaune tried to lift himself up but found he couldn't move, his arms and legs locked in place as if he were being held in place. He could feel a pressure on his limbs, his armour crushing down on his body with a weight they had never exhibited. It was then a foot, wearing a black, armoured high-heel and connected to bronze greaves, landed in front of him. The armour was pitted, worn and dirty but the familiar bronze colouration was still noticeable underneath it. The bottom end of a dirty, red sash fluttered behind the foot, brushing the ground._

' _Jaune,' a cold voice said with barely restrained glee. 'I have you now.'_

 _A pair of powerful hands gripped Jaune tightly, hauling up roughly in a single motion. Jaune felt dizzy as he was suddenly pulled up off of the ground, the pressure still crushing his body even as he was pulled against it. As he was lifted upright he saw his saviour's face, a face he dreaded. It was ghostly white – the smears of ash that streaked across the only colour that contrasted the unhealthily pale complexion – and rimmed by unkempt red hair that was also stained by soot, ash and smoke. A bronze headdress, separated the figure's hair-line from her face. It shone brilliantly in the light and the longer Jaune looked at it the more he was terrified of the spotless metal, the only clean item that could be found on the soiled countenance of his captor._

 _Her eyes were green but dulled and her mouth was slowly pulling back in a disturbing grin. The longer she smiled, the more her sharp, blackened teeth were revealed. Jaune, absolutely frightened of the woman in front of him, tried to squirm out of her grip but she held him fast, the manic expression on her face becoming more terrifying as he struggled._

' _Remember Jaune,' Pyrrha Nikos said, her grin now reaching its full extent, 'I said I would always be here for you.'_

* * *

Jaune bolted up in his seat, the terrifying mockery of his old partner thankfully fading from his mind's eye. Her face still lingered in his memory though, the sick grin, the ghostly features and the ashen stains returning to the forefront of his mind. He beat his hands on the table and then on the side of his head as he tried to banish the remains of the nightmare.

'Uh,' he groaned. 'I thought I'd gotten past that. When was the last time I even had one of those?'

Pushing himself off of his desk, he threw himself back in his seat and finally realised that he was still in his office. His desk was thankfully mostly empty of papers and he hadn't left any holographic displays on when he fell asleep though it was likely that any he had left on had automatically shut themselves off after a period of inactivity.

Jaune sighed again and recalled the screens, the holograms projecting a series of graphs, written files and police profiles. He immediately remembered that he had been focusing on the Elder Grimm Society investigation and blinked several times to clear his eyes and his head. He leaned forward in his seat again and trained his eyes on the screens. Activating the interface in his desk he began scrolling through the data, scanning it personally in the hopes it would turn something up.

'Come on, come on,' he muttered to himself as more lines of text ran across his eyes. 'There's got to be something. There isn't much time left.'

* * *

Benedict Cache studied his face closely in the mirror. Three years ago he had been a content man, happy with his lot and willing to perform his duties both to the temple and to the Council. He took a small amount of pride in his position but he tried to be careful not to act arrogantly because of it. He was humble enough to admit that it was difficult at times but on the whole he was sure that he had avoided the worst of excesses. He was a righteous man after all and he was merely offering solace and support to the secular government, not influence the politicians or those who served them.

Now, however, now he was a different man. To the people he helped he was still a pillar of stability and – he hoped – wisdom but in his own private affairs he was a sinner and an accomplice to evil.

Looking in the mirror he imagined his face was more haggard than it really was, his features possibly more sunken and his cheeks sagging under the weight of his guilt. Deep down he knew that whatever changes he had undergone were simply a result of age. His own sins were not visible, no matter what he wanted to think. No, he had to live with the fact that the only thing that could see his flaws was his own conscience. He was very good at hiding the stains on his character and despite his doubts he could never admit to others what he had done and what he was currently doing.

A loud moan interrupted Benedict's thoughts and he turned away from the mirror to look at the only other figure that shared his room. Lying on his rather expansive bed, barely covered by the sheets and writhing uncontrollably, was a young woman with a lithe figure and dark hair.

Several years ago the girl, Iseabal Beathas, had come to him claiming she was a confused young woman, interested in the faith and he had believed her. He had no idea what had driven him to accept her requests but he had been happy to have a young, pretty girl come to him directly for spiritual guidance. He was aware, these days anyway, that part of the reason why he had let her meet with him was because of his desire to have the attention of such an attractive girl and because of that she had gotten to him. They had talked for months, Iseabal spilling what he had first believed was her doubts and sins, baring her soul to him. Then things had become much more personal, much more intimate and by the end of their first year of consultations he had let her seduce him.

Now, after two more years he belonged to her in so many ways and it disgusted him. She had been submissive and inviting in the first few months of their sexual relationship but it hadn't taken long for her claws to sink into his body and soon she was the dominant partner, directing him and making increasingly dangerous demands, both in their personal relationship and the new professional one they had developed.

Halfway into the second year of their relationship she had started needling him for details on the politicians and officials that consulted with him. Conversations turned into interrogations that resulted in more affection if he gave Iseabal what she wanted and cold derision if he failed to provide. He didn't know when she had claimed so much of his soul but the mere idea of her disapproving of him was physically painful and so he had worked hard to get her the information she wanted.

The night before she had come to visit him, a pleasant smile on her face. They had talked casually, telling one another about how their week had been. By now Benedict wasn't sure if anything Iseabal told him was true or not but the small moment of friendly calm had been especially pleasant. They had made love in the evening and it had been, as usual, an act of coercion on her part and submission on his. Once again he hadn't cared about the power imbalance. How many other chances would he get that would be like the one he already had. He was easily old enough to be her father, maybe even her grandfather and she was so beautiful that he couldn't resist the feelings and urges she inspired in him.

Now she lay on his bed, convulsing and stretching, her eyes rolled back as she moaned loudly in exertion and a bizarre kind of pleasure. Whenever this happened Benedict was worried that others would hear. The doorman to the hotel his apartment was in was a friend of his and had already promised to be discreet about Iseabal's visits, guessing about their relationship and getting it mostly correct. The other residents, however, were a different matter, especially since many of them knew who he was. Even if the truth of Iseabal's allegiance wasn't discovered the scandal that would ensue for him would end everything Benedict had built.

As Iseabal shifted the covers were pulled back from her legs and Benedict had to turn away from the sight. Despite the feelings of worry that stirred in him when he saw acting the way she currently was he couldn't help but also notice how enticing she appeared. The more he thought about his feelings the more he became disgusted with the man he had become. He had been a righteous and courteous man, dedicated to helping the kingdom and people of Vale and now he was a lecher and accomplice to a disgusting conspiracy, a traitor to everything he had held dear and enough of a hypocrite to try to hide his sins away.

Suddenly Iseabal's eyes shot open and she threw herself up into a sitting position, flustered and breathing heavily. Benedict turned around, his worry overcoming his guilt once again. This time he didn't care about the fact that her violent movements had thrown away the covers and exposed more of her body, he was merely concerned about her health.

'Are you alright Iseabal?' he asked.

Iseabal didn't reply for several seconds, simply panting as she gulped in great breaths of air. Benedict tried not to focus on her exposed breasts as her breathing slowed down and steadied. He noticed the familiar red flush on her cheeks, a hue that she only ever reached during her episodes. He had no idea what she experienced when she underwent these fits but it seemed that she enjoyed them on some esoteric level that he just couldn't comprehend.

'I'm fine, Benny dear,' she replied coyly, her face still a little red. She pulled the sheets up to cover herself but the way she pressed the fabric against her body made her seem even more enticing. 'You know that you have nothing to worry about when these episodes happen.'

'In fact,' she began, leaning forward and letting the sheets drop away from her body, 'I have another little request to make of you.' she leaned forward, her breasts swaying as she reached a hand out to stroke Benedict's cheek. Despite his best efforts Benedict couldn't look away from the beautiful sight in front of him, the pendulous breasts, the perfect, round face and the inviting smirk and eyes. 'I need you to get some information from Councilman Li's personal files when you next have an appointment with him. Can you do that for me?'

'H…, how?' Benedict stuttered. 'How would I…, be able to do that?'

'Oh I have just the tool to help you,' Iseabal replied with a giggle that lacked any genuine mirth.

She got up out of the bed and walked over to one of his desks where her clothes had been left. Benedict didn't even bother to look away from her as he watched her hips sway. He could tell that she was being deliberate in the way she moved and also knew it would be pointless to try ignoring her. She would get his attention one way or another and he knew he was powerless to stop her.

Iseabal rummaged through her things, bending over so he could get a better view of her bottom, before straightening again, a small digicard in her hand. She turned, a self-satisfied smile on her face and sauntered back to the bed, lounging on it and presenting the digicard to him.

'Here,' Iseabal said, offering the device. 'It's a retrieval program. The card has a simple AI bug implanted in it so all you have to do is hook it up to the Councilman's computer. It doesn't matter if its a scroll, a holographic interface or even an old fashioned combook, it will break in and get what we need.'

"What you want," Benedict thought, a hint of bitterness and self-loathing tinting it.

'I understand, Iseabal,' Benedict replied. His tone was compliant, he no longer felt like he had the strength to even feign protest. He would get her what she wanted and in return she would continue loving him.

'Wonderful,' Iseabal said, handing him the digicard. He got up and placed it on the other desk, in front of his mirror.

'Now come over here,' Iseabal continued, a sultry tone in her voice. Benedict turned around to find the inviting smirk and look in her eyes back on her face. She beckoned him to her with a single finger and he complied, sitting down on the bed next to her. 'When you succeed,' she began, running a finger over his chest and up to his collar, 'we can celebrate anyway you like.'

Once again Benedict noticed her state of undress and the shameless way she flaunted it. His mouth dried at her words. He rarely had the chance to decide how their trysts would turn out anymore and relished the chance to take the lead.

'I understand,' he said again. 'I'll get what you're looking for. Don't worry, my dear.'

'Oh I knew you would do it,' Iseabal soothed as she leaned forward and pressed her body onto his, her lips tickling his own. 'I look forward to hearing back from you.'

With those words she pulled back and Benedict's heart wrenched from the sudden loss of contact. She got up off of the bed and dressed quickly, slipping into her clothes with practised ease. Even the act of dressing was sensual and teasing and Benedict found his breath turning heavy as he watched her cover her beautiful form up yet again.

She left his room without a word, only leaving him with a nod and a promising smile that reminded him of the rewards that awaited him after he had completed her request. Benedict glanced at the digicard, his heart clenching as he weighed his options over in his mind.

"What can I do?" he asked himself, knowing he had no answer other than "obey." Sighing he lay back on his bed and wept, partially from the guilt he felt for what he was about to do but also because of the harsh emptiness he felt now that Iseabal was gone. Truly, he was a damned man.

* * *

Aanjay Laal watched over her men as they stacked crates full of processed and raw Dust. Despite her orders Micha had attacked the mall in the city centre the week before, drawing media attention precisely when they didn't need it. In any other circumstance Aanjay would have condoned his actions, even celebrated them but this time his attack and self-immolation had been completely inappropriate.

"Just when I tell them to stay put and get everything we have together Micha decides to go and suicide bomb one of the busiest malls in the city," Aanjay mused angrily. She had thought about her former subordinate's reckless behaviour constantly since the incident.

Ever since his attack the police had stepped up their game. None of them dared enter the Old Residential District but they had started to poke around the edges and the outer cells had experienced several close calls in the past few days.

"Now there are Huntsman trainees sniffing around our territory as well," Aanjay thought bitterly, crossing her arms and snarling quietly. "Just when things start getting serious we have to be on guard for Huntsmen."

Trying to distract herself she looked up at the men as they worked. The majority of her forces had been gathered in the Old Residential District along with everything they could carry. Weapons, ammunition, Dust, rations, even old vehicles, they had all been grabbed and brought to the northern edge of the megacity. Crates filled the abandoned warehouse complex they had turned into their new hideout alongside a small armada of cars and trucks.

In the middle of the warehouse sat the key to their new plan, a massive Dust-hauler tanker. The immense rig and its accompanying trailer dominated most of the warehouse space and was currently being serviced by every Red Fang member with mechanical expertise. It was in top condition and they had managed to acquire the papers they would need to safely carry their haul across the city to wherever they wanted. All they needed now was enough Dust to fill it.

"And thanks to our new _friends_ ," Aanjay almost thought the last word with noticeable anger, snarling audibly, "we should have just enough. Soon I can make my move."

* * *

Happy New Year, 2017 everyone. I wanted to bring in the new year by finishing off the first volume of this story.

And thus ends this arc and our first volume. This story will be continuing of course, I have many plans after all. This volume has mostly been setup with little real adversity for our characters but, as you can probably guess, there is a much bigger picture to reveal. Volume 2 has already been started and will be coming out soon.

I would like to thank MS Void and Jed Rhodes for proof-reading and helping me bounce my ideas back and forth (and help me come up with this in the first place) and all of you as well for reading and, hopefully, enjoying this.


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